Behind These Hazel Eyes
by ClothesOverBrosx23
Summary: Brooke Davis appears to have it all along with her two childhood friends, Nathan Scott and Peyton Sawyer. But will a summer away change it all? Esp when Brooke returns with a new friend,Kaitlyn. Afterall it's their senior yr and all the rules will change.
1. Back Where I Come From

"Here goes nothing

This is my first fan fiction but I have some good ideas and with your help readers I'm sure it can be great.

I am a HUGE Naley fan, but Haley will not be in this story (

As much as I love her as a character, I know I couldn't have Nathan and her in the same story and not have them get together, therefore no Haley.

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up**

"Here goes nothing." Thought Brooke Davis has she stepped out of her baby blue beetle and onto the grounds of Tree Hill High. It was a new year and everything had changed. But nothing and no one was going to get in the way of her Senior Year. Brooke was seriously nervous and trying not to show it. It was at that moment she felt a hand upon her shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay, B," said Kaitlyn Smith. Kaitlyn Smith. God this girl had been her saving grace these last few months.

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Brooke and Kaitlyn took their sits in their first class of senior year. It had been a tradition of Brooke's to be the first person in class the first day so she would get to see everyone as they walked in after their long summer and all eyes were on her. It felt like being in first class, as did most of her life. But this year she wouldn't help feeling sad as it had all changed. This year _she_ wasn't sitting next to Brooke and neither was _he_. Many students began to file into the class. The jocks, who shot Brooke a smirk to which she replied with her famous wink and the occasionally irresistible dimpled smile. Next came Nathan and Peyton. Brooke began to fill that lump in her throat once again she as did each time either of their names were even mentioned. As she was about to raise her hand to ask to be excused, "RIIIINNNNGGGG," signaling that class had begun.

"Morning Seniors. How was your summer?" asked clueless Mr. Peters.

Brooke and Nathan exchange glances and just like that the memory floods back replaying in their minds as it did all summer long.

_3 months earlier_

"_Los Angeles?" questioned Nathan._

"_Yeah," said Brooke solemnly looking across her bed to Nathan._

"_Well for how long?" said Nathan_

"_The whole summer," sniffled Brooke._

_Nathan remained quiet trying to take it all in. The whole summer. "What does this mean for us?" "Should I go with?" "Why now?" "This was going to be our last summer together" A million unspoken thoughts were running through his head but were interrupted when Brooke began to speak again._

"_Look Nathan," began Brooke as she started to break down. "I- I just think that maybe, maybe it would be better if we-"_

"_You wanna breakup?" interrupted Nathan trying desperately to mask the hurt in his voice and vulnerability in his eyes._

"_I just think it's for the best," cried Brooke. She knew deep down this is what she had to do. She couldn't leave him waiting all summer, especially with her keeping something from him._

_Brooke was now sobbing when Nathan chose to speak up._

"_If you think this is for the best then why are crying? What aren't you telling me?" asked Nathan the concern evident in his voice._

_Nathan and Brooke have known each other since middle school. She watched him evolve into a nicer person, a better person. They were inseparable along with Peyton Sawyer. The group was often referred to as the Three Musketeers, when they were younger. Brooke knew that Nathan could read her like a book. And this situation was proving to be no different._

_Nathan gently placed his finger below her chin, "Hey, hey, look at me, come on, you can tell me, what's wrong? We can get through it, __**together**__,"_

"_Nathan, I-" started Brooke as her bedroom door swung open._

"_Hey guys neither of you were answering your phones so," babbled Peyton then when she finally looked up at the scene, ", oh my gosh Brooke!" cried Peyton._

"_Are you okay? Nathan what did you do to her I swear to Go-" said Peyton_

"_Peyton I'm fine, really," laughed Brooke through her tears._

"_Look I'm gonna go," said Nathan now standing leaning in for a kiss, but Brooke turned her face resulting in him softly grazing her cheek._

_A hurt Nathan asked, "Breakfast tomorrow then? We can finish talking about you know," turning to face Peyton._

"_It's okay you can say it, Peyton already known I'm leaving. But um I can't do breakfast my flights in the morning," said Brooke the sadness apparent in her voice_

_Peyton looking between the two people who mattered most to her feeling incredibly guilty and said,_

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"Okay class for your homework I would like an essay on the meaning of today's lecture," yelled Mr. Peters over the bell.

"Shit," whispered Brooke hoping she would be more focused on the present in the rest of her classes. "At least of have next period free," thought Brooke "and hopefully Nathan doesn't."

Brooke began to collect her papers desperately trying to get out of there before dealing with a confrontation with Nathan.

"Hey Brooke," no such luck thought Brooke as she turned to the owner of that voice she could recognize anywhere.

"Um Hi Nathan, look I really have to go, catch you later," replied Brooke as she nearly ran out of the classroom.

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The day was nearly over and it was becoming increasingly hard to keep avoiding Nathan.

"RRIINNGG" sounded the bell

"Just perfect alternate route and late again," mumbled Brooke to herself, "stupid boys."

"Hey watch it, I'm one of those 'stupid boys' too," laughed Lucas Roe walking up alongside Brooke.

"Oh hey Lucas," Brooke exclaimed while stopping to give him a hug.

"I missed you buddy," said Lucas "it just wasn't the same without you."

"Aw really?" asked Brooke feeling a bit more optimistic.

"Yeah you know, less partying, less drinking, less se-" listed Lucas.

"Hey," interrupted Brooke, "number one we," started Brooke motioning between the two of them, "haven't had sex since we were dating, which was years ago, number two everyone knows no one throws a party like Brooke Davis," continued Brooke throwing him a wink, "and number three it's not my fault you didn't drink, you always were a lightweight though," playfully teased Brooke as they continued down the path Brooke's calculus class completely forgotten.

"Now my turn 'number one'," mocked Lucas playfully, "when did Brooke Davis start speaking in 'lists' and I was most definitely not a lightweight," defended Lucas with a laugh.

The pair continued to laugh while creating small talk and discussing their summer, mostly his as Brooke wasn't as willing to share. However, both were unaware that Nathan sat at a nearby table with several friends with hurt apparent on his face, as he watched the two friends catch up.

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A/N: The blanks about the summer and the characters past relationships will all be filled in soon. Along with what Brooke was keeping from Nathan all those months back. The flashback will pick up with Peyton's response in the next chapter because I felt this entry would be too long. I thrive off of your feedback so let me know what you all think.


	2. Author's Note

**A/N:** Hey readers, sorry if you thought this was an update. I am however informing you that you may access a promo for **Behind These Hazel Eyes** at

/watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs -- this link doesn't seem to be working, so can also find it in my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly on youtube under the username Ally9292.

**WARNING –** Video does contain some spoilers for upcoming chapters!!

I recently made this promo and it is posted on my account along with my other videos. I am still working out the end of chapter two, so hopefully it will be up soon. All the chapter titles will be names of songs, like on One Tree Hill. I will also delete this note when I post the new chapter.

As you know Nathan and Brooke have a history, but I am open to suggestions on pairings including those two with other people. I have some in mind, but there have been times I read a fanfic and changed due to a couple I do not like together.

Let me know, I love to hear from you.

xoxo

Alyssa


	3. What's Left Of Me

A/N: Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at

A/N: Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

**However, I did use the LP line from the season 5 finale because I thought it was appropriate during Nathan's convo with Peyton.**

**Song during the flashback: **

**23 – Jimmy Eat World**

"What's up with you, you've been acting weird all week, man?" asked Lucas Roe.

It was now a few weeks into the school year and the basketball team was exiting the gym after gearing up for what will hopefully be a winning season. Practice had just started this week exceptionally early for a winter sport and those who didn't work out over the summer were failing miserably.

"Lucas, why don't mind your own damn business and focus on your game!" shouted Nathan, coming out a little bit harsher and louder than he had wanted to sound. He and Lucas Roe weren't exactly best friends but they had normally gotten along well, that is until Lucas dated Brooke a few years back now. They were now post-breakup and able to put it behind them but there was still some underlying tension. Nevertheless it usually went unspoken, but not today.

"I could say the same to you, you haven't hit a shot all week! Which brings me back to my original question, _captain_," said Lucas whispering his last word for emphasis as he shoved the basketball into Nathan's chest.

As Lucas stormed away Nathan let out a long aggravated breath and took another shot.

It bounced off the rim and Nathan caught it angrily. He threw the ball back as hard as he could off the backboard.

"Damn it!" yelled Nathan as the ball rolled rapidly behind down the basketball court.

It was then that Nathan heard a voice fill the gym, but still refused to turn around.

"Okay so I'm new here and thought I'd check the gym out and see if I happened to see Nathan Scott, you know, captain and star player of the Ravens, you wouldn't have happened to see him though right?" This then caught his attention and Nathan turned to see a beautiful tall blonde before him.

"I mean that shot," she replied motioning to the basket, "you couldn't possibly be on the same team as him right?" teased Kaitlyn Smith knowing all too well who Nathan Scott was and how he worked.

Nathan then jogged over to the entrance of the gym.

"Haha very funny," deadpanned Nathan, "your Brooke's friend, right? From California?" said Nathan as more of a statement than question.

"Nathan Scott, believe it or not" said Nathan with a smirk as he extended his hand.

"Yeah I know who you are, I'm Kaitlyn, 'Brooke's friend from California'" playfully mocked Kaitlyn, deepening her voice as she quoted him and shook his hand.

"So um, is Brooke with you?" asked Nathan looking around and sounding a little more hopeful then he had intended.

"Stupid, she's probably going to tell Brooke very word I say" thought Nathan.

"Yeah actually, she's just picking up the new cheer uniforms," said Kaitlyn pointing towards the office and trying not to laugh at his eagerness.

"I can definitely see what Brooke saw in him," thought Kaitlyn with a smile.

"So Nathan Scott, you wanna tell me why our star player here, can't hit a weak jump shot?" smiled Kaitlyn trying to lighten the mood with some lighthearted banter.

"Don't ask," mumbled Nathan.

"Hey Katie, ready to lea-" started Brooke while walking out of the athletics office with a huge box of uniforms in hand, only to be met with Nathan and Kaitlyn chatting, "oh hey Nathan," said Brooke while trying to focus on anything around her but him. She chose the enormous box in front of her hiding her face from him. "We can't talk if you can't even see my face, right? "Kaitlyn will be hearing from me later about this 'accidental' run-in" thought Brooke.

"Brooke, hey!" said Nathan trying to sound surprised that she had appeared, as opposed to her knowing, he was stalling in hopes of getting to talk with her.

"Do you want me to take th-? Well you know the box I could ta-" stumbled Nathan trying to find the words to either help her with the weight of the box or to at least get her to place it down so they could talk.

"This box, is actually really heavy so we should you know, get going Kaitlyn" said Brooke, "nice seeing you again Nathan," Brooke sincerely replied as she and Kaitlyn walked away.

"Well, hey, hey wait up!" yelled Nathan jogging to catch up to the two girls, "at least let me carry the box to your car."

"Nate" said Brooke not taking notice that she had used his nickname until after she had said it. She then blushed and looked down. Nathan however noticed both occurrences.

"Come on, you said so yourself, the box is heavy," stated Nathan with a smile as Brooke sighed giving in.

"Okay, thanks." Said Brooke as Nathan's arm grazed hers in taking the box she again thought back to that day that changed everything for them.

_3 months earlier_

_Peyton looking between the two people who mattered most to her feeling incredibly guilty and said, "You know I'll just catch you later, kay, Brookie?"_

"_Yeah, okay, I love you P. Sawyer, and you better be here later to say goodbye," said a tearful Brooke. "Even in tears her feistiness remains", thought both Nathan and Peyton with chuckle. And Peyton walked out her door not knowing it was probably for good._

"_Now do you wanna tell me what's really going on?" Asked Nathan._

"_Nathan, I really can't do this now," cried Brooke barely able to get her words out._

"_Please just go, and remember what I said, don't wait for me," whispered Brooke through her tears._

"_Brooke" started Nathan._

"_Nathan, please, I'm barely keeping it together here," begged Brooke while standing from off her bed._

_**I felt for sure last night that once we said goodbye**_

_**No one else will know these lonely dreams**_

_**No one else will know that part of me**_

"_So we're done? After everything we've been through? Just like that?" yelled an angry and hurt Nathan._

"_Nathan, I- I'm just really confused and I'm scared and I-. Please just meet me halfway here," stated Brooke._

_**I'm still driving away and I'm sorry every day**_

_**I won't always love these selfish things**_

_**I won't always live not stopping**_

"_Brooke, I love you and I think you love me too. So is that what you're scared of? Because if you are then you should leave. Just run away, like you always do. You did it on the playground when we were little and you were scared, you did it at your mom's funeral and you're doing now," yelled Nathan._

"_You know what Nathan, take your stuff and just get the hell out! I do love you and I didn't __**choose**__ to go away for the summer in fact I damn near begged to stay. And for what?! Because I wanted to be with the man that I love. And you were with me at my mom's funeral and it was a really, really rough day for me and you know that! I can't believe you would use that against me in an argument!! How can you say you love me and then say something like that?" screamed Brooke tears threatening to spill over. She had never felt this mixture of emotions all at once. Hurt. Anger. Love._

_**It was my turn to decide**_

_**I knew this was our time**_

_**No one else will have me like you do**_

_**No one else will have me**_

_**Only you**_

_Nathan just remained standing with a smile on his face. None of the other stuff mattered. All of the hurtful words spoken between the two, it didn't matter._

"_Are you going to say anything?" questioned Brooke still crying and angry._

"_You just said you loved me," stated Nathan with a smile, "Nothing else matters, I love you," said Nathan again searching Brooke's eyes for something, anything._

_**You'll sit alone forever if you wait for the right time**_

_**What are you hoping for**_

"_I-. You can't just-. Ugh." Said Brooke at a loss for words and still reeling from her anger but "He loves me!" thought Brooke squealing inside. Nathan always had that effect on her, a simply smile from him and she could forget everything. They both knew they had their problems and that saying the powerful 'I LOVE YOU' would make her leaving in the morning that much harder. She had a decision to make._

"_I love you too," cried Brooke as she ran across her room and into his arms and captured his lips in a soft loving kiss._

_**I'm Here**_

"_God, I love you so much," said Brooke again with tears in her eyes as she move her lips down to his neck and repeatedly kissed him, sucking to leave her mark so the world would know he was hers. "I love you too," said Nathan as his breath hitched now feeling the effect she was really having on him._

_**I'm Now**_

_Nathan then picked her up and placed her on the bed with him hovering over her while their lips remaining locked the entire time. Brooke suddenly pulled away. They locked eyes as she said, "Nathan?" _

"_Yes," he answered huskily._

_**I'm Ready**_

"_Make love to me," whispered Brooke shyly with a small smile._

_Shy was definitely not a word normally used to describe Brooke Davis, especially during sex. But Nathan was one of the few who ever saw Brooke like this, and it was the real her._

_Nathan simply smiled back at her and took her lips softly._

_**Holding on tight**_

_**Don't give away the end**_

_**The one thing that stays mine**_

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As soon as their arms touched each other they paused and they felt it. The spark.

"Brooke…"

"Nate…" they both started at the same time then laughed looking down. As they again looked up into each other's eyes they heard,

"Yo Nate," yelled Tim, one of Nathan's teammates, completely oblivious to the scene.

Nathan turned around angry to be interrupted, "What?" Nathan yelled back.

"Peyt's in the gym, she's looking for ya!" yelled Tim again across the parking lot.

"Hey Davis, looking good this year, as always!" he yelled again with a smirk, only infuriating Nathan more.

To which Brooke just chuckled and winked.

"She **does** look good every single year," thought Nathan. Although he had to admit California treated her well, "Her gorgeous chocolate locks are now a little brownish/red," he then laughed to himself knowing that wasn't the proper color and how Brooke would know what it was. She's really tan too from her summer in the Californian sun," thought Nathan. He was finally brought back into reality when he heard Brooke say, "Well you better get going," said Brooke motioning to the gym doors, "See ya around Nate, um, t- tell Peyton I said hi."

She then smiled with a small wave and walked towards her car, having to carry that heavy box after all.

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"Nathan, please talk to me," said Peyton now in her room, "is this about Brooke?"

"Not everything is about Brooke, Peyton!" yelled Nathan, "contrary to popular believe I can function without her. I lost her before and I can do it again," said Nathan his voice now beginning to soften, "Peyton, I'm sorry I shouldn't hav-"

"Nathan," interrupted Peyton letting him know she understood.

"It's just, it was hard letting her go, Peyton. It was hard when I first saw her after the summer. It's still really hard." Said Nathan sounding a bit more vulnerable then intended.

"Nathan, its okay," said Peyton reassuringly, "and you CAN be mad at Brooke, god knows I am."

"Come here," said Nathan softly, as Peyton scooted closer to him on her bed.

"Wha-" began Peyton but was interrupted by Nathan leaning in to capture her lips in a rough kiss. At first Peyton was shocked but she couldn't help but feel like this was right and she began to respond. He pushed his tongue against her asking for entrance and she obliged.

To him it was meaningless but he needed it, he needed to feel wanted. To feel needed. And Peyton complied.

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"Kaitlyn Smith I cannot believe you would do that to me!" yelled Brooke while driving towards her house.

"Brooke, you needed that, plus I saw the way you and Nathan were looking at each other," smiled Kaitlyn wiggling her eyebrows.

"Katie," said Brooke in a 'watch it' type way with a smile.

"Look all I'm saying is maybe you should tell him, it might make a difference," stated Kaitlyn carefully.

"Kaitlyn , I get what your trying to do, I do, but please, there's just so much there between me and Nathan," said Brooke sadly.

"Well, hey let's play the radio game, said Kaitlyn in an attempt to lighten the mood.

This past summer it had become their favorite pastime.

"Yeah!" shouted Brooke appearing to be in a better mood and turning up the radio.

"Okay, I'll go first, what's Brooke thinking right now?" questioned Kaitlyn as she pushed a random button.

_I told you everything, opened up and let you in _

_You made me feel alright, for once in my life _

_Now all that's left of me is what I pretend to be _

_So together, but so broken up inside _

"Whatever, this is a stupid game," defended Brooke.

"You don't think so when I works out in your favor," teased Kaitlyn sticking out her tongue as Brooke did the same with a laugh.

"Now my turn, 'what's Kaitlyn' thinking right now?" playfully mocking Kaitlyn's question and then attempted to push a new button.

"Hey, remember the rules? No back-to-back questions. You have to ask about someone else and then you can ask about me on your next turn," stated Kaitlyn proud that she had gone first this time.

"Ugh, fine. What is Lucas Roe thinking right now?" asked Brooke.

_Just realize what I just realized, _

_We'd never have to wonder,_

_If we missed out on each other now. _

_Take time to realize,_

_Oh, oh, I'm on your side. _

_Didn't I, didn't I tell you? _

_Take time to realize this all can pass you by._

"Lucas Roe, huh, he's hot. Maybe he just realized that I think he's hot," laughed Kaitlyn.

"Nice Katie, real nice," laughed Brooke, but also wondering who he wants to 'realize' this.

"Okay, okay, now this is getting good, my turn," clapped Kaitlyn excitedly.

"What is Nathan Scott, thinking right now?" asked Kaitlyn, thinking it was now safe to bring him up again.

This got Brooke's attention.

Kaitlyn then pushed the button and the car filled with the sound of,

_You chose to surrender _

_the best thing that's happened to you_

_What were you missin?_

_Were you just trippin?_

_Running away from your fear_

_was the best you could do_

_You made this decision_

_You chose our division_

"Brooke, I'm so sorry," started Kaitlyn as she realized how this may be affecting Brooke.

"No, its ok." Said Brooke with a sad smile

_And I have no regrets_

_I wish you the very best _

_In all that you do_

"Okay well let's just call this a redo, what's Brooke's former bestie Peyton doing?" questioned Kaitlyn.

"Oh that's a good one, we're gonna pass her house in like 10 seconds," said Brooke excitedly too.

_I waited eight long months_

_She finally set him free_

_I told him I couldn't lie he was the only one for me_

_Two weeks and we had caught on fire_

"Ouch, I didn't think Peyton was like that," said Kaitlyn jokingly.

"Yeah, neither did I," mumbled Brooke as she saw Nathan's black SUV in Peyton's driveway and her bedroom dimly lit.

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A/N: I know there wasn't a lot of Lucas in this chapter but I want you all to become familiar with Nathan and Brooke and their history. I have more content for the flashback, but it is up to you if you want it, it is not crucial to the story, but good nonetheless.

Songs used in the radio game:

Behind These Hazel Eyes – Kelly Clarkson

Realize – Colbie Cailliat

Division – Aly and AJ

Misery Business – Paramore


	4. Better As A Memory

A/N: Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at www

A/N: Sorry for the wait Word wasn't cooperating, but it is now up and running and updates should be more regular now. Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

"Hey, Brooke, wait up!" yelled Nathan jogging to catch up to her as Brooke increased the speed of her walking.

"Hey didn't you hear me calling you?" asked Nathan now walking beside her in the quad.

"Yeah I heard," stated Brooke looking around for Kaitlyn.

_The one day I don't pick her in the morning_, thought Brooke.

"Oh, well are you mad at me now or something? I mean the other day I thought maybe, well I don't know. In the parking lot you seemed, just, I don't know," said Nathan realizing how dumb he probably sounded at the moment.

_I can't even complete a thought,_ he ironically thought to himself.

"Nathan, I-" started Brooke before being interrupted by,

"B. Davis, what's up," said Lucas with a smile and lifted one arm so she could give him a hug.

"Luke! Nothing really just looking for Katie," said Brooke happily.

_Oh me, Lucas? I was doing fine until you interrupted my conversation_, thought Nathan sarcastically.

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"Hey, superstar," stated Kaitlyn cheerfully.

"Most of my friends just call me Nathan," he said.

"Oh, so we're friends now?" teased Kaitlyn, "anyway I saw your little, well whatever that was, with Brooke just now. I wouldn't take it too personally."

"Oh, you wouldn't? Because when Lucas came up to her she was all 'Hey Luke! Let's have sex on that picnic bench right there" remarked Nathan, his voice higher when impersonating Brooke.

"She did not say that," said Kaitlyn knowing he was obviously exaggerating.

"Fine, maybe not in those words, but she was thinking it," said Nathan aggravated and somewhat hurt.

"Well, why do you care anyway?" asked Kaitlyn now defending her friend, who she spent an entire night's worth of ice cream with, while she cried over him.

"What?" questioned Nathan, "what are you talking about?"

"We saw you a few nights ago," started Kaitlyn as she saw his face drop, "at Peyton's."

Kaitlyn then walked off in search of Brooke, knowing she was probably hurting.

"Hey Nate," said Peyton walking up to him and leaning in for a hug.

Nathan looked over her shoulder and saw Brooke sitting with Kaitlyn…crying.

_Crying_? he thought_, is this affecting her more than I thought_. Nathan then caught her eye and he quickly released Peyton as she quickly wiped at her eyes while standing to walk away.

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Nathan was now sitting in his English class, as his professor went on and on about something he frankly was not all that interested in. His mind kept picturing Brooke crying into Kaitlyn's shoulder on the quad. He then thought about his night with Peyton. It had been what he needed at the time, but was it worth it. He now felt as if he was cheating on Brooke.

_This is ridiculous, _he thought arguing with himself, _**she**__left __**me**__, this is in no way cheating._

"What the hell are you doing to Brooke, man?" whispered Lucas from behind him in class.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" spit Nathan.

"I saw her crying on the quad today when I left," said an angry Lucas.

"Lucas, is there a reason you continue to position yourself between _**me**_ and _**my**_problems?" stated Nathan his voice rising a bit.

"So Brooke is just one of your _problems_?" said Lucas, as his neighbor looked at him signaling to quiet down.

"You know what Luca-" started Nathan only to be interrupted by Lucas.

"And I also saw you working her new friend, Kaitlyn and then Peyton right after," he said.

Brooke was beginning to hear their little _disagreement_ and she was beginning to feel sick. _Nathan cheated on me while they were together? _She thought.

"Mrs. Stuart, may I be excused plea-" started Brooke but was interrupted by Nathan yelling.

"Lucas, you better back off!" yelled Nathan now infuriated, "Say what you want about me, but I would've _never_ cheated on Brooke, I lo-"

"BOYS!" interrupted their yelling their English teacher, "Office, NOW!"

The class just sat in shock including Brooke who sat just two rows ahead of Nathan.

The two boys walked up the aisle and towards the door with their backpacks in hand. Nathan looked right at Brooke, who had tears behind her eyes, "thank you," she mouthed with a small smile, which he gladly returned.

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It was now lunch and like it had been for the past month it was,

"Awkward," mumbled Brooke as Kaitlyn laughed.

"It's not that bad, B," said Kaitlyn.

Their table of situated right in the center. Brooke had sat at that table since freshmen year with the basketball team and the squad that she was now captain of this year. However, today's lunch period was proving to be the worst yet. Nathan and Lucas had been exchanging death glares since lunch started about ten minutes ago. Lucas finally decided to the first to speak.

"So, Brooke how was morning?" asked Lucas although he was looking at Nathan the entire time.

"Lucas, please," begged Brooke wanting me to stop.

"No, come on, tell everyone how much of a jackass Nathan was to you," said Lucas finally turning to face Brooke.

Brooke just continued to look down, clearly embarrassed.

"Lucas do you maybe wanna lay off?" said Kaitlyn become irritated with Lucas' behavior and the fact that no one seemed to be defending Brooke. _And these people say they're her friends, if even one person stood up for her, bu-_ Kaitlyn's thoughts were interrupted by Nathan.

"You know what Lucas I should have shut you up when I had the chance," said Nathan as he was began to stand starting a fight he caught Brooke's eyes, pleading with him to not make a scene. Nathan remained seated.

"Wuss," mumbled Lucas with disgust he also caught Brooke's eyes and saw disappointment. Lucas then knew he messed up, but he was only trying to help her out.

Nathan stood up and walked away from the table in order to cool down.

Brooke saw this and went after him, convincing herself it was out of gratitude.

"Brooke!" yelled Lucas trying to get her to come back.

The rest of the table then began to whistle and holler cheering them on, as the two left, all of them knowing their history

Kaitlyn and Peyton however silenced them, with death glares of their own, but both for entirely different reasons.

"Nathan!" yelled Brooke as she ran over to him, in the dark gangway between two school buildings.

"Brooke, not now okay, do you have any idea how hard that was for me to do? I really don't need a lecture," stated Nathan calmly.

"I was just going to say thank you, but I guess you have me just all figured ou-" started Brooke ready to start another argument with him.

"I'm sorry," interrupted Nathan, not meaning to upset her.

Brooke was definitely surprised, this wasn't the Nathan Scott she knew, he never walked away from a fight, neither physical with Lucas nor verbal with her. _Maybe he really did change_ she thought.

"Well, thanks," she said shyly as she gave him a hug.

"God, I missed this," said Nathan into her hair not intending to say it out loud, but nonetheless was pleased with her response when she kissed his cheek softly, after pulling away from his embrace. She slowly began to walk away, but turned back and said with a sad smile, "I'm sorry, too, for everything."

"Brooke..." he started.

He had waited months to hear those words come out of her mouth, and he went over a million times in his head what thing he could say or do to hurt her the way he was hurting. However, he never pictured himself doing what he did next, he pulled her arm turning her towards him and began to kiss her passionately as she was pinned against the wall.

Brooke knew that this was only complicating things further, but she loved the feeling of his body on hers as their tongues danced together. She could already feel herself becoming wet and knew that this had to stop. But, before she left she just had to know,

"Nathan," she stated out of breath, he replied with a moan, but still letting her know he was listening, "I-I just, were you with Peyton a few nights ago, I mean," Brooke took a deep breath preparing to finish her sentence, but also preparing herself for his answer, "You didn't sleep with her, did you?" asked Brooke shyly.

"No," said Nathan as Brooke let a sigh of relief thinking there was hope for them and began to kiss his neck, "but we did makeout in her room," he finished knowing that nothing would come from lying to her.

He felt her squirm against him, "Let me go!" shouted Brooke, with hurt and disgust in her voice.

"Nathan, I mean it," she said in a dangerously low voice as he moved aside for her to run away, once again.

Brooke began to run as fast as she could a locked herself in the nearest bathroom, she then threw up.

_I can't let him control me like this_ she thought.

She heard a knock on the bathroom stall, "Brooke I know you're in there, are you okay?"

"Please just go away," cried Brooke. She hated when people saw her cry, it made her feel very vulnerable.

"Brooke…"

"No! Don't you dare, you are the last person I want to see right now!" yelled Brooke as she swung open the door.

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The team was warming up for their first game of the season, and Nathan's head was anywhere but in that game. Since his incident with Brooke yesterday, she was all he could think about,_ why isn't she here yet? _thought Nathan. She then walked through the doors of the gym with Kaitlyn in tow. He knew he was going to have to try to play it off. This year he had to be phenomenal, scouts would be there and at this point basketball was all he had, and he was going to throw everything he had into it. All of the anger he felt towards his parents, all of the hurt and confusion towards Brooke, and even the jealousy he felt towards Lucas Roe, yes he would admit to it, Lucas had everything he wanted, but he was going to channel those feelings into becoming the best player he could be. It was his only way out. There had been a time when Brooke was his future, he knew that they were young, but he could feel it, she made him feel alive. Now all he felt was pain and the game.

Nathan and Brooke locked eyes and this time Nathan looked away before she had the chance. He had every right to be angry with her, when Brooke had returned he wanted her back so bad that he would have done anything. That was over now and so were they.

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"And another dunk, from Nathan Scott! I have to tell you he is on fire! What a great season opener we have here! And now a three, it is all Scott!" yelled the announcer excitedly.

"Yeah, Nathan!" cheered Peyton from where she stood with the rest of the squad.

"Nathan looks good tonight," whispered Bevin to Rachel, both cheerleaders, "can't wait for the party later."

"FIVE, FOUR, THREE," cheered the crowd counting down to the buzzer.

"But Bev, I still can't believe him and Brooke broke up, they were actually kinda cute together, as much as I hate to say it," replied Rachel.

"TWO," continued the crowd.

And there it was again, that sick feeling she got every time she and Nathan's relationship or lack thereof was mentioned.

"ONE," finished the crowd as cheers filled the game as the Ravens won their first game of the season, with Nathan as the leading scorer.

Nathan looked over at the cheerleaders, just in time to see Brooke running off.

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The party was now in full swing and the blaring music could be heard from a mile away.

To say the whole house was drunk would be the understatement of the century.

"So how does it feel to know every girl in the room wants you right now" asked Rachel seductively.

Nathan saw Brooke sitting with Kaitlyn laughing when Daniel starting hitting on her, but Nathan resisted the urge to intervene.

_No, I have to get back to my old self, Brooke can deal on her own_ thought Nathan.

"Every girl in the room always wants me," replied Nathan with a cocky smirk taking a step closer to Rachel.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," stated Rachel with the same cockiness while Nathan gave her a confused look, "with guys not girls," to which both Nathan and Rachel laughed.

Suddenly, _Please Don't Stop the Music_ filled the air and Rachel smiled.

"Dance," she suggested holding out her hand.

Nathan downed the rest of his drink and took her hand, "Lead the way."

It was now three songs and a whole bottle of vodka later and Rachel and Nathan were still grinding in the middle of the makeshift dance floor.

_She is going crazy on me_ thought Nathan.

He wasn't looking for anything serious, just a night to forget all his problems and he only knew two ways to do that 1. sex and alcohol 2. Brooke

and since the latter was not going to happen Rachel would do. He couldn't deny that Rachel was hot and there was definitely a lot of history there, but he had forgiven her.

"How about a refill?" asked Nathan.

"You read my mind," whispered Rachel while her hot breathe made contact with his neck and ear.

The pair made their way toward the kitchen him holding her hand to ensure they weren't separated in the crowd as she walked behind him.

"I've never…" began Kaitlyn as she sat at the counter with a group of the basketball team and her squad.

"Hey, hotshot!" yelled Kaitlyn much louder than needed due to her intoxicated state, "come play with us."

Brooke was seated next to Kaitlyn and could have killed her for proposing he join them.

"Okay so continuing, I've never…" paused Kaitlyn, "slept with a basketball player/cheerleader."

The entire table sent her a 'yeah right' look to which she replied,

"Hey, I'm from California we're big on soccer and water polo."

Kaitlyn knew that most likely the entire table had, so it was basically a freebie.

Everyone laughed at her confession and took a sip of their drink, but Brooke.

"Come on Brooke don't lie, we all know you have and with few of us, a mean Nathan's living proof," said Vegas with a laugh motioning to Nathan.

"Shut up, Vegas," said Nathan and Brooke at the same time.

Nathan couldn't help feeling a little hurt that Brooke wouldn't admit to being with him.

"Drink up, Brooke," laughed Stephen as the rest joined in.

"I just don't feel like drinking today," said Brooke. She then looked at Nathan to see Rachel was had her hands all over him and he was returning the favor, but they had yet to even kiss.

"I gotta get out of here," mumbled Brooke as she left the table.

"What's wrong she can't take a joke?" asked Vegas laughing.

"Fuck off!" yelled Kaitlyn running to check on Brooke.

Nathan was shocked, he didn't know Kaitlyn very well, but it did seem out of character for her to blowup at someone, _what's going on with Brooke?_ thought Nathan.

As Brooke ran off Rachel couldn't help but feel bad about how badly things had ended with her and Brooke a few years ago, wanting to suppress this she spoke,

"Do you wanna go upsta-" began Rachel.

"Yes," interrupted Nathan eager to forget all about Brooke.

Rachel smiled and led him away from the crowd past Daniel and Vegas.

"I don't know what he's thinking," said Daniel.

"What you talking about, man?" asked Vegas.

"Nathan. He chose Rach over Brooke. I don't know I guess I always thought since him and Brooke were friends before they were together, that if they broke up them would still be friends. I mean Rachel's hot, but Brooke she's really hot," finished Daniel with a smirk as he and Vegas clapped hands.

"Watch it," stated Lucas defensively.

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Nathan pulled Rachel into the room and immediately had her pinned against the door. Nathan leaned down to capture her lips, but he pulled away from her.

"I can't do this, Rachel," stated Nathan.

"What? What are talking about we just were gonna," asked Rachel.

She then looked up into his eyes and saw how hurt he was at the moment.

"Go," said Rachel understanding.

"What?" asked Nathan.

"I said go and hurry before I change my mind and have my way with you right here," said Rachel with a wink.

"Bye Rach, I'll see ya around," said Nathan as he left the room and heading downstairs.


	5. Some People Change

A/N: Again I am so sorry, this summer has been very hectic, but thank you to the readers who have stuck with me, I promise it'll be worth it.

I also have a several chapters written, but with two different versions of what Brooke's secret is, so let me know what you would like to see, because that will help me decide which draft to post.

A/N: Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song names, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 4 – Some People Change

Nathan walked down the streets of town after leaving the party. He did this very often trying to clear his head and he always ended up at the river court. He was approaching the court when he saw someone already on it, but he couldn't make out the silhouette.

The person wasn't playing basketball though just sitting on the bench looking out into the sky.

"Sorry, I was just leaving," said Brooke quietly as she dried her eyes and stood up.

"Brooke, talk to me," stated Nathan.

"What do you want me to say Nathan, we broke up, it's over, I get it, but do you have to parade your new relationships in front of me!" yelled Brooke, now extremely emotional.

"Brooke, I didn't come here to fight," said Nathan calmly.

"Then why did you come here!" cried Brooke.

"I came here to clear my head because _you_ are all I could think about!!" shouted Nathan becoming aggravated.

"Whatever," mumbled Brooke walking away and off of the court.

"And how could you not tell me?!" yelled Nathan saying anything to keep her here a little longer even if it was a fight her presence still made his heart beat a little faster.

"Tell you what?" asked Brooke nervously thinking he had found out.

"You were flying tonight, during the game. You finally got your bow n arrow double down. Brooke you've been working towards that since junior high the proof is buried under that tree," started Nathan softly motioning towards the one tree off to the side of the river court.

"Nathan, don't act like you suddenly care when an hour ago you were screwing Rachel," said Brooke in a low voice.

"I wasn't screwing Rachel, but you looked pretty cozy with Lucas in the quad today! And why would you care anyway? You left me! Damn it Brooke, you didn't give me a chance to care about you, I wanted be there, but you have to let me," said a hurt Nathan angry and loud.

"Nathan, I'm so sorry," cried Brooke running towards him and kissing his neck.

"Brooke, no I'm not doing this again," stated Nathan sadly.

"What?" asked Brooke.

"I wanted to be there, want_ed_, but you and me we're done," said Nathan.

"You don't love me anymore?" asked Brooke while she cried.

"Brooke, come on, you know I love you, I always will, you were my best friend before all of this, but it's just too hard, we shouldn't have to try this hard to make it work. We are so far away from those kids we used to be, we had this bond that no one and nothing could come between and I guess over the past couple months it just fell apart. Maybe that's my fault you didn't want a relationship you wanted to stay just friends, but I was selfish and I wanted you, so I guess I only have myself to blame" replied Nathan emotionally.

"Nathan I wanted a relationship with you, I was just…" she trailed off and then took a long deep breath, "Tomorrow at 10," said Brooke sniffling as her voice cracked at the end this was one the most embarrassing moments of her life and she was going to try to avoid talking about it.

"What?" asked Nathan confusion apparent on his face.

"Meet me here on the court, one last time, there's something we need to talk about," said Brooke sadly as she walked off towards her car.

Nathan stood frozen in his spot. He had Brooke back offering to be with him and he refused her. For the life of him he couldnt figure out where he found the strength to say no to Brooke. He just couldn't make much sense of it, so he did the only thing that did make sense to him, he walked over to one of the bushes, took out his basketball and began to shoot.

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"Kaitlyn!" shouted Brooke as she walked into her apartment, "Katie! Come on where are you?"

_That's weird, maybe she's still at the party,_ thought Brooke unraveling her scarf and heading towards her bedroom.

"Oh my god!" yelled Brooke and quickly shut the door, "Katie, I'm so sorry! I'll be back lat-" she shouted through the closed door. The door suddenly opened slightly and Kaitlyn slipped out clad in her jeans and bra.

"Brooke," began a disheveled Kaitlyn, "um I should've told you. I didn't really know what the rules were so I thought since you weren't home yet that you weren't gonna come home tonight," she finished still out of breath from her previous activity.

"Oh, it's totally fine, I'll just hang at Bevin's or something," said Brooke quickly.

"Thank you, I love you," replied Kaitlyn quickly and giving her a hug before turning back around about to walk in.

"Hey," started Brooke which got Kaitlyn's attention, "have fun," ended Brooke wiggling her eyebrows. They both laughed and headed off to their respective people.

Brooke was now sitting in her car and replaying the recent events through her head.

"_Oh, well are you mad at me now or something? said Nathan._

"_And I also saw you working her new friend, Kaitlyn and then Peyton right after," Lucas said._

"_Say what you want about me, but I would've never cheated on Brooke," yelled Nathan now infuriated._

"_I'm sorry," interrupted Nathan, not meaning to upset her._

"_God, I missed this," said Nathan into her hair_

"_I'm sorry, too, for everything."_

"_No," said Nathan as Brooke let a sigh of relief thinking there was hope for them and began to kiss his neck, "but we did makeout in her room."_

_Nathan and Brooke locked eyes and this time Nathan looked away before she had the chance._

"_But Bev, I still can't believe him and Brooke broke up, they were actually kinda cute together, as much as I hate to say it," replied Rachel._

"_Hey, hotshot!" yelled Kaitlyn much louder than needed due to her intoxicated state, "come play with us."_

"_Come on Brooke don't lie, we all know you have and with few of us, a mean Nathan's living proof," said Vegas with a laugh motioning to Nathan._

"_You don't love me anymore?" asked Brooke while she cried._

Brooke sat in her car crying with her head on the steering wheel. How had her life become such a mess. She took out her phone and dialed Bevin's number,

_Hey it's finally Friday, out partying with my girls and the team! If I can remember who I am by morning I'll give you call back. Thanks! Bev, come on we're gonna be la- _BEEP

_I hate voicemail and Rachel's stupid voice interrupting Bevin_, thought Brooke as she searched through her contacts looking for a place to crash. She had never had to think about it before, if she was ever in this situation Nathan or Peyton was there. Still she dialed the number and headed in the direction of Nathan's house. She couldn't help going down her old block that held so many memories. She stopped in front of her old house that was now up for sale, red door and all. Her eyes then scanned across the street and landed upon Nathan's house, she had spent many days with him and Peyton in that driveway. When they were younger they would play on it and then in high school stumbling in after another party. Still Brooke pushed away her tears as the memories flooded back to her and continued driving to her destination a few blocks up the rode. She rang the doorbell and soon Lucas appeared in the doorway.

"Hey," said Brooke softly.

"Hi, come on in," replied Lucas motioning behind him.

"So where did you disappear to when you ran out of the party?" he questioned.

"I went to the river court just to think and then Nathan showed up and we got in this fight and it's just," began Brooke letting out a long shaky breath, "it's over, probably for good. I've been running from it for months and I just don't know what to do. It's over, Luke. He doesn't want me, he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore and it's all my fault," cried Brooke breaking down in the middle of her speech.

"Listen Brooke I know you're going through a rough time and always be there for you, but never again. I'm not gonna be the guy that you run to when you and Nathan are off, because when you and Nathan are on we hardly talk. I just need to know where we stand. So what are we?" questioned Lucas.

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"I take it your with Daniel wasn't what you expected?" said Brooke with a laugh.

"Well, considering it's three in the morning and we're in the Sonic parking lot, no it wasn't," answered Kaitlyn also laughing.

Brooke had left Kaitlyn a message after leaving the house to tell her she would be at Lucas' instead of Bevin since she couldn't get in touch with her. Kaitlyn and Daniel didn't work out so she drove over to Lucas' house to pick up Brooke, so she could spend the night in her own bed, instead of crashing on Lucas' couch.

"Oh, so there's a big sale, at Macy's tomorrow, we definitely need to go. We can get Christmas presents and stuff," said Kaitlyn excitedly. Living in California her whole life, she had never experienced the holidays in the cold and it just made everything seem merrier to her.

"Katie, you do know that it's not even Thanksgiving yet, right?" joked Brooke, earning herself a nudge in the side.

"Of course I know that, but it is only like 4 or 5 weeks away, so, better we go early. Plus, we don't have to get Christmas stuff, we could get clothes," she stated with a smile.

"That's true," she replied.

"So, what happened to you earlier? You just bolted out of the party, is it Nathan? What's going on with you two?" questioned Kaitlyn.

"Nothing. Nothing's going on and he made that very clear tonight. We're over and it's never gonna be the same – me and him. We used to be so close and I just don't see how we are ever gonna get back to that, that least anytime soon," said Brooke sadly, but quickly tried to pull herself together and continued, "anyway I need to focus on the future, God knows I have other things to worry about on my plate."

"Yeah," said Kaitlyn softly, "I'm sorry, Brooke, but if you two are really meant to be, you'll find your way back eventually."

Brooke smiled sadly back at Kaitlyn, glad to have someone supportive and take her mind of the drama surrounding her life.  
Brooke's thoughts were also clouded by her conversation with Lucas, she knew that she felt something between them, but had never considered taking him back after all that had happened. Even still most of their talks were playful banter, but could that just be pent up sexual tension? Did her and Lucas have a shot? And more importantly did she wanna take it?


	6. AN

Hi Readers!

I had originally planned on updating last Monday, but there was a tornado in town causing me to lose power. I then started Breaking Dawn and couldn't put it down until I finished it a few days ago. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, it's great to know you all like the story! I have now reached over 1000 hits, which was great to see when I returned to the internet. I would still however like a few more opinions on Brathan or Brucas, as it what will determine the direction the story is going. Thank you all soooo much and I promise to have another chapter up by the end of the week. :)

Another reminder that you can still access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs or directly from my Youtube Account, username Ally9292.

As always, I love to hear from you all.

xoxo

Alyssa


	7. What I Need To Do

A/N: Sorry for the wait. Enjoy! Let me know what ships you are rooting for in this fic :) Thanks!

Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song names, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

**However, I used a NH line from 5x11, I thought it was a good fit.**

Ch. 5 – What I Need To Do

Brooke arrived at the river court at quarter to ten, hoping to clear her head and mentally prepare herself. Once she walked onto the court she saw Nathan was already there shooting around. Every shot went through, it still amazed her how unaware he was of his talent. It seemed to be apparent to everyone, but Nathan.

"Hey you," said Brooke as she walked up next to him and he stopped shooting and placed the ball on the ground.

"Hey," he said uneasily, while putting his hands in his pockets.

Neither of them knew how to act around each other anymore. Neither knew what was okay and what wasn't okay to say. It was as if they lost their way. It had always come easy to them. Nathan and Brooke had been best friends since the day she moved into the house with the red door across the street from him at the young age of seven. Now it felt like they didn't even know each other anymore, in growing up they had grow apart.

"So how was your summer?" asked Brooke nervously, but then regretted it realizing that he most likely spent the summer wondering what would happen between the two of them, "I'm sorry."

"That's getting a little old, Brooke. Aren't you tired of apologizing, you shouldn't have to apologize for who you are, not anymore," he began and then looking away letting out a sigh before continuing, "Why did you want meet here?"

"I um," began Brooke still unsure, but thankfully for her, she heard a car approaching

and turned to see Lucas Roe shutting off the car.

"Hey, Brooke. What's going on?" questioned Lucas skeptically.

"Hey, um, me and Nathan were just gonna exchange our stuff and then I'm leaving," she said with a sad smile.

_Way to chicken out, Brooke,_ she thought to herself.

Nathan finally looked up from the ground, the post-breakup stuff exchange, the only thing that hurt more than the actual breakup was having to be reminded of the good times you _did _share together.

"Well, after do you wanna grab some breakfast at the café? A short stack extra s-" started Lucas.

"Syrup. Look, Lucas you wanna maybe wait until I at least get my shit back, before you jump all over my girlfriend," interrupted an angry Nathan.

"Nathan," said Brooke, also angry at his outburst, she then turned back to Lucas,

"I'll meet you there?" she asked, to which Lucas responded with a nod and walking off, but not before sending Nathan a dirty look.

"What the hell was that? And I'm not your girlfriend, which you made very clear yesterday!" questioned Brooke.

"You said you wanted to talk, not that you were giving me my stuff back," said Nathan quickly, still a bit angry.

"Well," she said calmly, but then remembered his actions towards Lucas and began to yell, "I don't need a constant reminder of who we were – how we were."

"How we were, was pretty damn great, if I remember!" he yelled back.

Brooke let out a long sigh, letting go of her frustration and collecting herself, she didn't want this to turn into another fight.

"I'm gonna get your stuff," stated Brooke sadly, walking towards her car to get the bag.

Nathan stood motionless in the middle of the river court, wondering when his life, had gotten this complicated. It was always family, Brooke & Peyton and basketball, nice and simple. Now he felt as if he was drowning in the ocean and the harder he tried to get to the surface the farther down he was pulled.

"Here," said Brooke, bringing him out of his thoughts as she pushed the bag into his chest angrily and began to walk back to her car.

Nathan looked into the bag quickly to see what was there. Some clothes, a few mix CDs they had made for each other, jewelry and the purple monkey.

"Brooke, this was a gift," he said his voice raw, holding up the monkey, he had once given her.

"Nathan, just take it," she said softly, opening the car door.

"Wait, Brooke! Can we at least talk about this?" he said calmly.

"Nathan, there's nothing left to say," she said quietly, got into her car and drove away from the only true love she had ever known.

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"I can't believe you said that," said Brooke with a laugh, reaching out to playfully hit Lucas on the arm.

The two were now sitting in the café eating breakfast. Kaitlyn had come to pick up Brooke right after Lucas had asked her about her feelings, leaving his question unanswered. Lucas had gone to the river court in search of Brooke, but he hadn't expected Nathan to be there too.

"Yeah, I did, I knew you wanted those strawberries, anything for Brooke Davis," he said with a smile that reached right up to his eyes.

Brooke envied that smile, she hadn't been genuinely happy in months. She kept trying to get back to that girl she once was, but she just couldn't find it in herself, so she took another sip of her orange juice, looked right into Lucas' eyes and put on that not-quite-up-to-there smile.

"Well thank you," she replied, playfully resting her hand on her chest and sighing.

"I missed this," said Lucas, causing Brooke to motion for him to elaborate, "us, I missed us, you know hanging out, talking."

Brooke simply nodded her head and said, "Yeah, me too. You really are a great friend."

_Friend,_ thought Lucas, _maybe I'm expecting too much out of this breakfast. Are we just friends? Does she still like me? Would she even be willing to take me back, after everything? Should I go with blueberry pancakes or chocolate chip pancakes?_

"So how are you doing? With everything" he asked suddenly much more serious.

Brooke pursed her lips and looked away from Lucas to prevent herself from crying, she then turned back to him and said,

"Honestly," she began as she let out a long slow breath, "Whenever life got like this, I always turned to Nathan, he was my best friend and my boyfriend, and uh, now he's not, and it's really hard."

Lucas reached his hand over the table and placed over hers saying,

"It's gonna get better."

She sent him a grateful smile and picked up her jacket and purse that was placed next to her in the booth.

"I really should get going," she spoke quickly, once again running from her feelings.

She wasn't sure what she felt for Lucas, but she knew that she wasn't ready for anything. It seemed that her whole world was spinning out of control. The two people who she thought she could always count on, her two best friends, they were no longer a resource. But she now knew Lucas would at least be there for her.

"Well, do you need a ride?" asked Lucas hopefully.

"No, um, I brought my car, remember. Anyway, I'll talk to you later, okay?" she asked as more of a statement then question to which he nodded anyway.

"Hey, Brooke," he said from his seat, causing her to stop and turn to face him, "if Nathan isn't going to be there for you, at some point you have to be there for yourself."

Brooke took it all in and nodded with a sad smile, she then slowly walked over to him placed a soft kiss on his cheek and walked out of the café.

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"I was a total jackhole," said Nathan as he walked from Peyton's kitchen to the family room where she was sitting.

"Whatever, it's not like she didn't deserve it," said Peyton nonchalantly.

"That's just it, she didn't deserve it. Brooke was really trying, but I was so hurt that I couldn't even see that. Then that jerk Lucas showed up and whisked her away, with his stupid one-liners and crooked ass smile," he explained aggravated, "asshole," mumbled Nathan.

Peyton just rolled her eyes and remained in her lounge chair with her legs swung over the side while eating a breakfast bar.

"Are you even listening?" questioned Nathan with a chuckle, "God, I probably sound ridiculous, right?"

"Eh, well," agreed Peyton nodded her head and shrugging her shoulders.

"So, how's your afternoon looking?" asked Nathan, changing the topic, knowing Brooke was a sore subject with Peyton these days.

"Very lonely," she said with a laugh and a smile, "What do you wanna do?"

"Is that even a question?" stated Nathan rhetorically joining in on her laughter.

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"And game," said Peyton triumphantly with a smile as she tossed the game controller to the side of her. Both she and Nathan were now sitting on the floor leaning against the back of the couch in front of the TV.

"I am humbled and mortified," said Nathan in shock, "how the hell did you do that? We have probably played this game, oh I don't know, a million times and you always suck. When did you get so good?"

"First of all I never sucked," she began and they both laughed, "anyway I downloaded the cheats offline so I could bet you," she finished both of them still laughing.

"Well, it worked," stated Nathan with a smile, Peyton then picked her head up with a smile too and turned to Nathan both looking right into each other's eyes.

After a few seconds Nathan cleared his throat and turned away, saying,

"I should really get going. Big game tonight, ya know."

"Yeah," said Peyton disappointed as he walked out the front door of her house.

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"Yes, I am, I'm a terrible person," argued Brooke, while sitting on the couch across from Kaitlyn.

"Brooke, you're not, you're just, I don't know, a little lost," she said softly.

"Yeah," whispered Brooke to herself with a sigh, confirming Kaitlyn's statement.

"So, now that we have covered Lucas, how was your stuff exchange with Nathan?" she asked carefully.

"Hell. Katie, it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. It's just when I'm with Lucas I feel like one person and when I'm with Nathan I feel like a totally different person. With Lucas it's just easy and carefree – fun. Nathan and me, its hard with him and when we had our bad days, they were bad, really bad, but it was worth it for the good ones because they were good, they were amazing. With Nathan there was always this heat – passion. I mean yeah, we fought, but doesn't that mean you care? I don't even know anymore, I just, I really don't know," stated Brooke.

"Brooke, I know you're having really hard time, but you really need to tell Nathan," said Kaitlyn softly, with concern.

Brooke just took a deep breath and closed her eyes, hoping that it all might be a dream, but once she opened her eyes, it was a little all too real.

"Your right," she said with tears in her eyes.

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Brooke was now standing on Nathan's porch, trying to muster up the courage to knock on his door. She had been pacing out front for about 10 minutes when she finally knocked at the familiar surface. It was late and she knew that, but she also knew if she put it off until morning she might lose her nerve. The door then opened revealing a disheveled Nathan clad in flannel pajama bottoms, no shirt and sleep in his eyes.

"Brooke, what are doing here so late? Did something happen?" he asked concerned, rubbing his eyes as he became more alert.

"Can I talk to you?" she requested quietly.

"Yeah, it's freezing though, come on in at least," suggested Nathan, motioning for her to come into the house.

"This is definitely better than the cold," whispered Brooke, attempting at a joke to lighten the mood, before she confessed.

"My dad's in Charlotte, so you don't have to whisper or anything," spoke Nathan, taking notice of her courteous behavior.

"So what's going on? I thought you didn't want to see me anymore," he remarked with a hint of anger in his voice as he recalled their conversation on the river court, not even 24 hours ago.

"Nathan, what I said earlier, I didn't mean it. What I really needed to tell you was this…" she trailed off.

Nathan shifted uncomfortably, wondering what Brooke could possibly have to say to him.


	8. A Lot Of Things Different

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, school started again last week :( and I've been bombarded with homework :p but anyway….

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for – the reveal of Brooke's secret and Brooke and Peyton's confrontation, they had to talk sometime! :)

BL is definitely NOT completely ruled out, i love them together and if enough readers are for them, it could happen.

Let me know what you all think! :)

I also loved**_ Storyteller247's_** idea! I totally could see that happening on the show!

Another reminder that you can still access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song names, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

**However, I used a line from The Hills.**

Ch. 6 – A Lot Of Things Different

"Nathan, before I left for the summer…I, uh, I found out I was pregnant," whispered Brooke hesitantly.

"You…you found…you…you what?" stuttered Nathan in shock.

"I'm pregnant, Nathan," she said softly.

In that moment Nathan felt many emotions going through his head, but one stood out the most – anger. The person who he had loved the most lied to his face for months.

"How could you not tell me?! You've been home for months and it never crossed your mind to inform me that you were pregnant!" yelled Nathan.

Brooke watched as he shouted, the anger becoming more and more apparent as his wonderfully blue eyes darkened causing her to tear up. She had gone over this conversation in her head a thousand times, but she had never pictured Nathan being this angry, she knew he would be upset, but this was worse than she thought.

"Of course it crossed my mind! It more than crossed my mind, it's been lingering there since June!" she began teary-eyed, "When you came over that night I wanted to tell you , but I was just really scared and I didn't know _how _to tell you and then we started fighting. I mean we had been fighting a lot lately and I didn't know if our relationship would even make it through the summer and I didn't want you to stay with me just because I was pregnant. I just, I'm so sorry, Nathan," ended Brooke as she broke down.

"Damn it, Brooke," said Nathan calmly, trying to think of how to respond. On one hand he was extremely happy, but he was upset that she had kept this from him. Still seeing her crying Nathan walked over and gave her a comforting hug.

"I just wish you would have told me sooner," he whispered disappointedly against her hair as Brooke continuously apologized while crying into his chest, "Who else knows?"

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"You knew?!" yelled Nathan infuriated.

"Of course I knew! She was my best friend!" argued Peyton.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?! You just watched all summer long as I struggled with why Brooke could've left and you didn't tell me!! I thought we were closer than that, _Peyton._ You say we're best friends, best friends don't keep secrets like that from each other," he shouted back to her.

"You know what, _we_ are best friends," started an angry Peyton motioning between the two of them, "but Brooke was my best friend too and even though I hate her now for not telling you, it wasn't_ my_ place to tell you. This is between you and Brooke! And don't pretend like you spent the whole summer waiting for her, when we were hooking up all summer long!"

"It wasn't like that Peyton," stated Nathan shaking his head.

"Then what the hell was it?!" questioned Peyton while glaring at him.

"I don't know, helping me with Brooke leaving, maybe. I just missed her and I felt unwanted and you were there, to make me…not feel that," he confessed defeated.

"Well, that's great, Nathan," she said sarcastically with an edge in her voice.

"When you and Brooke were fighting last night and I'm sure you were. First you yelled, she yelled, then she cried, you comforted her, she said something you didn't like and then you yelled again. Did you tell her about us," she said confidently as she met Nathan's eyes, "I didn't think so, because you know that cheating is the number one deal breaker for Brooke. So the next time you go accusing and yelling at your two best friends, telling them all the horrible things they've done, think about yourself," ended Peyton as she stormed out of the room and up the stairs to her room, leaving Nathan standing alone in the middle of the room and once again feeling like an idiot.

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"Are you joking?" asked Kaitlyn.

"Come on this is the one I've been waiting for, to find out if I get a little Brookie Monster running around this house," pouted Kaitlyn.

"Katie, I'm sorry," said Brooke sincerely.

"Well, who's going with you then?" asked Kaitlyn, "I mean do they know about your mom, because usually you get prett-"

"Kaitlyn, please," begged Brooke already feeling tears behind her eyes at the mention of her mother.

"Well then who is it?" asked Kaitlyn for the third time this morning.

They both heard a knock at the door, but Kaitlyn continued to talk as she walked to answer it.

"Oh my god, is it Lucas? I saw how he was looking," started Kaitlyn as she pulled the door open to come face to face with Nathan, "at you," finished Kaitlyn saying the words while turning back towards Brooke with an encouraging smile.

"Hey Nathan, let me just grab my jacket," said Brooke as she walked back to her room.

"So, Hot Shot, are you and Brooke finally back together?" asked a curious Kaitlyn.

"Uh," he spoke as he began to answer her questions.

"Kaitlyn, stop it," warned Brooke as she appeared in the living room much to Nathan's relief.

"You ready?" asked Nathan.

"Yup," she replied.

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The car ride to the café was silent. After their fight late last night Nathan had said that he wanted to be apart of her pregnancy – as friends. Both of them thought that what they had once had was definitely over. Nathan and Brooke both got out of the car and took their seats in the café.

"Okay this is ridiculous, we were friends for years, we can do this, right?" asked Nathan still unsure himself.

"Of course," said Brooke with a smile.

"What can I get you two?" asked the waiter who was clearly checking out Brooke.

Brooke seemed to squirm under his gaze which Nathan took notice of quickly.

"You're unbelievable? Here we are trying to have a nice quiet breakfast in a family owned café no less and you are clearly staring at her? She's pregnant you know? And also not interested. I wouldn't count on you still having this job tomorrow" said Nathan forcefully as the waiter walked out the café fearing for his life with the look he got from Nathan.

"Nathan," started Brooke reassuringly reaching out to place her hand over his, "it's okay just calm down."

Nathan looked up and caught her eyes, they both then realized the situation and quickly pulled away and looked down again.

The rest of their breakfast went fairly quickly since there was little to no talking between the two.

Brooke and Nathan were now driving to her doctor's appointment and again…silence.

"I guess we really can't do this, can we?" asked Brooke sadly as Nathan's expression encouraged her to go on, "us, being friends."

"It's just gonna take some getting used to again. I'm always gonna protect you Brooke and I guess when I saw that guy looking at you, it just, something inside me snapped. I know I was probably completely out of line, but especially now with you pregnant, I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"Oh," Brooke replied sadly. _I guess he was just protecting the baby,_ thought Brooke.

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Brooke and Nathan were now in the room waiting for the doctor to come in to examine her. Nathan was shaking his leg rapidly and Brooke noticed and couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you nervous?" teased Brooke, "Nathan Scott, star player of the Ravens is afraid of a little checkup."

"No, I'm just…yeah just a little bit," he said with a laugh and Brooke began to laugh too.

Their laughter was interrupted when the doctor walked into the room.

"Oh I'm sorry to interrupt, but may we begin?" asked the doctor nicely.

"Oh yes I'm sorry doctor, this is my, um" started Brooke but was then stuck in an uncomfortable situation when she wasn't sure how to address him, thankfully Nathan cut in,

"Nathan Scott, I'm the father," he stated proudly as he held out his hand with a smile.

"It's very nice to meet you both, Dr. Simon isn't in town so I will be filling in for her today," she said.

The doctor then began to put the cold gel on Brooke and suddenly the baby appeared on the screen. Nathan just watched astonished, Brooke looked over to Nathan and saw a tear fall from his eye.

"I'll give you two a minute," said the doctor as she quietly walked out.

Nathan grabbed Brooke's hand, and said,

"That's the baby"

"No, that's_ our_ baby," said Brooke with a teary-eyed smile.

It took everything in Brooke to not kiss Nathan in that moment, _damn hormones_ thought Brooke.

"I'll be right back, are you gonna be okay?" asked Nathan to which Brooke simply nodded.

A few minutes later the doctor knocked on the door.

"Come in," said Brooke with tears still in her eyes.

Nathan saw the doctor walk in and figured he would let Brooke be alone with her, but that still didn't stop him from listening at the door.

"Okay, Mrs. Scott, everyth-" began the doctor.

_Mrs. Scott_ thought Nathan _that didn't sound so bad_.

"Um," interrupted Brooke.

The doctor then looked down at her hand and noticed Brooke wasn't wearing a ring.

"Oh, you two aren't married? I just don't understand why young people like yourself think they can do it by themselves. One day your boyfriend is going to leave and then yo-" started the doctor.

Nathan couldn't take it anymore, _how can this doctor say that? What should__** I**__ say?_

On impulse Nathan walked through the door to defend Brooke for the second time today, he saw her crying and knew it was due to the doctor's cruel words, but for now he would ignore the doctor.

"Brooke, how are feeling?" began Nathan taking a seat and reaching out for her left hand, "Oh, did you forget to wear your ring?" asked Nathan hoping she would play along.

"Um, yeah, sorry, forgive me?" questioned Brooke with a smile.

"Of course," said Nathan and leaned in to kiss her, he knew it was probably their last and he wanted to pour everything he had into that kiss, everything he was feeling, the goodbye kiss. Brooke was shocked but she wasn't going to object, she loved him and if this was their last kiss, it was amazing. Earth shattering. Nathan pulled away and looked at Brooke to see her smiling at him. Nathan then turned to the doctor pretending it was the first time he noticed her standing there.

"Oh, I'm sorry doctor, didn't see you there, please continue," said Nathan.

"I'm very sorry Mrs. Scott, I misunderstood, as I was saying everything looks good and you are free to go, unless you would like to know the sex of the baby," replied the doctor.

"Yes," both said at the same time causing both to look down and laugh.

"Congratulations, you're having a boy," said the doctor as she walked out the door.

"Yes!" yelled Nathan as he pumped his fist, "I knew it!" Nathan then hugged Brooke, "Thank you, Brooke" he said into her neck. He then noticed she was crying.

"Brooke, are you okay?" asked Nathan with concern as he released Brooke from his arms.

"No, I'm fine, I'm just, we're gonna have a baby boy," cried Brooke.

"Yeah, yeah we are," said Nathan and for the second time that day a single tear rolled down his face.

"And I want to say thank you for earlier," said Brooke shyly.

"Not a problem, just helping out a friend right," said Nathan trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

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"Okay, here we are," said Nathan the car coming to a stop in front of her apartment she shared with Kaitlyn.

"Yup. Look I just want you to know that I really appreciate this and especially since I didn't tell you until now and you were just really great today… and, um, I appreciate it," she said softly as she focused on anything but his eyes.

"I madeout with Peyton this summer," he said quickly, "a lot."

Brooke looked back up in surprise,

"What? But she knew that I was pregnant and we weren't even officially broken up yet, how could she do that to me…How could _you_ do that to me?" she said with hurt apparent on her face.

"Brooke, I was really hurt that you left and I thought that… maybe you finally realized that you could do a hell of a lot better than some small town guy who probably will never be able to give you the life that you want – the life you deserve. I'm really sorry Brooke, but I just thought I should tell you as your friend. I don't want us keeping things from each other and coming between us again," stated Nathan.

"Nathan, your not just some small town guy. You're my best friend and even if it didn't seem like it at the time, I thought about you everyday. If you would still love me when I came back? If you would even want to be a father or apart of our son's life?" began Brooke emotionally, "And even though I have those answers now, I just, I don't know…"

"I don't know what you want me to say," said Nathan honestly, "But thank you, Brooke."

_At least he's being honest with me,_ she thought. It was then silent for a few minutes when Brooke began again,

"Um," started Brooke biting on her bottom lip as she did every time she was nervous, "never mind, I'll just see you at school on Monday."

"No wait, what were you gonna say?" asked Nathan.

"Nothing," replied Brooke.

"Come on, I can tell you're nervous, just say it," Brooke raised an eyebrow signaling for him to explain, "that lip thing that you do, when you're nervous you bite your bottom lip, always have since we were kids," said Nathan slightly embarrassed.

Brooke just looked down blushing, he was the only one who could ever make her feel this way.

"So, are you gonna tell me?" prodded Nathan with a smile.

"It's just, I was thinking about what the doctor said," began Brooke looking down at her hands.

"Brooke," interrupted Nathan only to be cut off by Brooke,

"No, she's right, I can't do this on my own. I mean Kaitlyn's great but once we graduate in the spring, she's gonna be gone…and so are you," cried Brooke.

"Brooke, I'm not gonna leave you, or our son, I promise" said Nathan seriously.

"You really shouldn't make promises you can't keep," whispered Brooke, "Nathan, you have a future – with basketball. You are incredibly talented, take that and run with it," Brooke said looking down with tears threatening to spill over.

"Look at me…right at me, you will _never_ be alone, we may not be together anymore, but you are still one of my best friends and you also happen to be carrying my child," added Nathan trying to had a bit of humor to this very serious conversation, "and I'm not leaving you."

"You say that now but when the scouts are at your games and you get that full ride to Duke that you've always wanted…I don't know Nathan. She's right we aren't ready for this but after seeing our son up on that screen, Nathan I have to keep him I mean I jus-" began Brooke.

"Brooke, I would never ask yo-" interrupted Nathan placing his hand over hers, but stopped when Brooke's hand quickly moved to her stomach.

"Oh my god, Brooke! Brooke, are you okay?" asked Nathan becoming very worried.

"Yeah it's just, the baby kicked," said Brooke with a huge smile, "that's the first time he's ever done that."

"Can, can I feel it?" asked Nathan nervously.

"Yeah, here," said Brooke excitedly as she moved his hand and placed it where the baby was kicking.

"Wow," stated Nathan with a smile.

"Yeah," Brooke stated with the same grin.

"I bet he's gonna play basketball," said Nathan with a smirk.

"Just like his dad," said Brooke with a smile.

They both looked up at the same time locking eyes, mere inches apart.

"I should really go," whispered Brooke.

"Yeah," replied Nathan huskily.

Brooke slowly gathered her things and stepped out of the car.

"Hey!" he yelled and Brooke turned to Nathan, "I love you, both," he said friendly with a smile.

It took Brooke a second to register that he was referring to her and their son, she then threw him a smile. _Maybe we can be friends after all_ thought Brooke. "Bye," she laughed with a wave.

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"I really need to talk to you so can I come over?" said Brooke into her cell phone.

"Yeah I guess," she said annoyed.

Brooke then closed her phone and grabbed her keys heading off to her car.

She spent the ride there thinking of what she should say to Peyton. Brooke was mad, but Peyton had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. Finally pulling into the familiar driveway, she walked the path up to her door and walked into the house, just as she always had and just as Peyton had told her to do today.

"Peyton!" yelled Brooke as she walked in, letting her know that she was present. She then walked into the living room knowing that, that was most likely where Peyton would be in the house.

"Hey," said Brooke quietly.

"Hi," Peyton responded in the same tone.

"So why are you here?" she asked annoyed, from her spot of the couch.

"Nathan told me about this summer – about the two of you," answered Brooke.

"Of course he did," stated Peyton with annoyance still evident in her voice, "Look Brooke, I know you're probably mad, but you just left! You didn't tell Nathan and I watched him nearly cry over you. You were my best friend so I didn't say anything to him, but you knew I liked him! I've liked him for…forever. I saw that you two were getting closer and I asked you freshmen year if you had any feelings for him and you said no. Clean, cut and simple. Then the very next year you two start dating! So, I'm not sorry for what I did because," she began and Peyton decided to mess with her, "because it was great. He was great. You know, the way his tongue slowly and passionately moves throughout your mouth. The way his whole body tightens as he holds you and moves over your body in anticipation of what's to come next. The way he looks directly into your eyes right before he comes – he is amazing," she ended with a smug smile as she looked up at Brooke who had tears in her eyes.

"But, hey, I can forgive and forget. You made a mistake so if you're here to finally apologize, then…" trailed Peyton as she motioned for Brooke to apologize for 'all the things she had done to wrong her'.

Brooke then took a deep breath and with tears threatening to spill over gathered everything she had left I her and said what would most likely be her last words ever spoken to her former best friend

"Peyton, there's nothing left to do **but** to forgive and forget. So…so that's what I'm gonna do, I want to forgive you and I want to forget you."


	9. Anything But Mine

A/N: As a thank you for being patient with me on my updating and as a birthday present to myself (it's tomorrow) lol, I decided to post twice this weekend.

You can think of it as a Labor Day present :)

I also enabled the anonymous feature, so please review! )

Make sure to watch the season premiere tonight too!!

Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 7 – Anything But Mine

It had now been four weeks since the checkup and things were going smoothly. Still no one knew of her pregnancy, other than Nathan, Peyton and Kaitlyn. Brooke was beginning to wonder when she would start to show, and it scared her. She was still able to wear her normal clothes and looked about the same. As for her and Nathan, the "buddy" situation seemed to be going great, much to Peyton's dismay.

"Hey, B.Davis," said Lucas nudging her as the walked through the quad.

"Hey Lucas, how's it going?" asked Brooke happily.

"Oh you know same old, same old. You?" commented Lucas.

"You know just dealing with some stuff," stated Brooke.

"Stuff? Stuff like Nathan? Are you guys back together?" questioned Luke.

"Nope, just friends," said Brooke calmly, "you know, like before all the drama."

"Believe me, I know," laughed Lucas earning himself a playful shove from Brooke.

"Still even before you guys were together, it was there, I could tell, that's why I-" started Lucas.

"Can we not rehash the past, please?" said Brooke trying to avoid another of her emotional breakdowns, which happened to be occurring a lot lately.

"Yeah, look I just wanted to see if you maybe wanted to hang tomorrow? Unless you already have plans," asked Lucas hopefully.

"Actually I don't have any plans, how pathetic am I?" laughed Brooke, "Yeah, that sounds good though, what did you have in mind?"

"Well you know Ashley's having a party and I thought we could go together after the game," suggested Lucas.

"Um, well I'm not going to the ga-" started Brooke when suddenly her eyes were covered with a pair of hands.

"Guess who?" asked the mystery person whispering in her ear.

"Hey Nate," said Brooke knowingly as she turned to pull him into a hug with a laugh.

"Anyway Lucas," stated Brooke turning back to address Lucas, with Nathan's arm still wrapped securely around her.

"So I'll see you Friday then, we can just take my car, after the game," said Lucas walking away with a smile.

"I thought you weren't going to the game," asked Nathan as Brooke turned around to face him.

"I wasn't planning on going, but Lucas asked me to go and I figured, I haven't fun in a while so why not," replied Brooke.

"Okay, then I'll see you there too," smiled Nathan.

"Hey, I thought you said _you_ weren't going to the party," playfully mocking his statement to her.

Nathan leaned in and whispered, "Did you really think I would let you and my son in a place like that without me around."

Brooke just looked back at him shocked, _is he flirting with me_ thought Brooke.

"How honorable of you," she teased again, "but I probably won't get to hang with you much buddy, I'm going with Lucas, like as a date."

"Sounds like fun," replied Nathan coolly.

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Brooke and Lucas had just arrived at Ashley's party following another Ravens win.

Most of the team was gathered in the kitchen for another insightful game of I've Never.

"Come on, Brooke let's play," said Lucas as he poured her and himself a drink.

"We're in," announced Lucas to the table.

"Nessa you're up," said Bevin to the newest member of the squad – a freshman.

"I've never…had sex," said Vanessa, knowing that since most of the party was seniors they obviously had, had sex.

Just as the last game had went it was essentially a freebie, everyone took a sip, except Brooke, once again.

"Brooke, is this gonna be a replay of the last time you played?" asked Vegas laughing again.

"I just don't wanna play anymore," said Brooke her voice cracking.

"Look, Brooke, it's no secret you're not a virgin, just ask every guy sitting at this table," added Peyton spitefully.

Nathan knew it was a bad idea for her to agree to play when he knew she would not drink, but when he looked over at her and saw tears forming behind her eyes he knew he had to speak up.

"Peyton lay off, okay," said Nathan.

There was a time when the three of them were best friends. But, Peyton just couldn't forgive Brooke and she couldn't forgive Nathan for the fact that he _did_ forgive Brooke.

There was also still tension between Brooke and Peyton due their 'forgive and forget' last month.

"Whatever, I'm over this," said Peyton as she walked away.

The game then picked up again and Nathan walked over to Brooke and Lucas.

"Brooke, are you okay?" asked Nathan concern evident in his voice.

"She's fine," said Lucas defensively, "you should be worried about Peyton she probably feels terrible right now, since you went off on her over nothing,"

"I asked Brooke if she was okay, not you, and as for Peyton she was way out of line,"

Brooke began to feel sick again and was really regretting coming to this party.

"So, I'll ask again, Brooke, are you okay?" asked Nathan looking directly at her.

Brooke simply shook her head no.

"Let's get you home, okay," said Nathan as more of a statement than a question as he held out his hand to her which she accepted and just as every time the two shared even the smallest touch, the baby kicked. Lucas saw this splash across her face.

"Brooke, _are_ you okay?" asked Lucas.

"I just don't feel well, I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you," stated Brooke with a small smile.

Nathan led her out the kitchen heading towards his car, once they reached the living room Brooke couldn't wait any longer as she ran into the bathroom but Nathan followed her close behind.

Brooke kneeled in front of the toilet emptying the contents of her stomach while Nathan held her hair back and gently rubbed her back. She then wiped her mouth, flushed the toilet, and leaned her back into Nathan's chest.

"Thank you," she said, embarrassed Nathan had seen her throw up. But also couldn't help thinking how thoughtful he was as he held her hair and rubbed her back. Nathan noticed her cheeks flush against her now pale skin and said,

"Hey, you have nothing to be embarrassed about okay," he began, as he got a small smile from her, "as long as you need me here, I'll be there."

Brooke began to cry at his admission, but Nathan was becoming used to her emotional state and pressed on.

"So how is my son doing anyway, what was that back there? You weren't in pain, right? I mean everything's okay? You and the baby," he asked concerned but keeping quiet so no one would over hear.

"Better now," she said smiling at him, "and the kitchen thing was the baby kicking."

"Does he do that a lot?" asked Nathan sad to be missing out.

"No, actually that was only third time, and you were there the first time, so you're not missing much," she added with a laugh trying to make him feel better.

"When was the second time, did anyone feel it?" asked Nathan eagerly wanting to know if she shared this experience with anyone else.

"No," she said quickly, "hey, you walk out first so people don't think we're like hooking up in a bathroom or something." joked Brooke with a laugh.

"Right," added Nathan with a chuckle, "meet me at the front door and be careful, please."

Brooke nodded her head with a smile. Nathan walked out of the bathroom and was now standing by the front door waiting for Brooke. Soon Rachel walked up to him.

"So, I know you and Brooke aren't together, but I also know that from what I heard went down in the kitchen it seemed like anything but, so what's going on?" questioned Rachel.

"Rach, it's really not like that, me and Brooke, we're friends," stated Nathan simply.

"So then do you wanna go upstairs? Maybe try it again since you freaked out on me last month," said Rachel seductively.

"I mean that night I thought you wanted to be with Brooke, but when I found out you two weren't togeth-" started Rachel when suddenly Brooke appeared next to her looking her sick.

"Are you okay?" interrupted Nathan asking for the third time tonight and they had only been there for an hour.

Brooke just nodded and said, "Let's just get out of here."

"Sorry Rachel," said Nathan sincerely turning to face her.

"Just friends?" she replied as him and Brooke were walking out, leaving him to contemplate her words.

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Brooke and Nathan were now sitting in the living room of his house. Nathan didn't want her to go home to her empty apartment since Kaitlyn was still at the party. He agreed to drop her off once Kaitlyn had arrived home later that night.

"Hey Brooke, I was thinking about earlier when you were sick," began Nathan, "does that happen often?" he asked.

"Everyday," she said with a sad smile, "it gets hard, especially on my own, but it's worth it."

"Kaitlyn isn't there?" he asked.

"Well, she offered once but she wasn't sure how to comfort me, she just kinda sat on the floor as far away from me as possible, and even then she also threw up" she replied realizing how feeble she sounded, "it's okay though, not a big deal," she added the sad smile still upon her face.

"Did I comfort you? I mean today at the party when you were sick. You said Kaitlyn wasn't much of a help, was I?" he questioned.

"Definitely, it felt good to know someone was there for us, me and the baby," she said with no hesitation.

"Do you wanna move in with me?" Nathan suddenly blurted out.

He was met with a small laugh from Brooke. She then looked over to him and saw his serious expression.

"Oh my god, you're serious," began Brooke as her laughter died down, "Nathan, are you fucking crazy?! People will start to suspect something!" yelled Brooke.

"Brooke, who cares I want people to know! It's gone on long enough!" he yelled back.

"Nathan, this seemed to be working out fine for you when you were with Rachel last month!" she argued.

"Me and Rachel?! Are you kidding, Brooke?! You know our history, I couldn't go there again! How many times do I have to tell you that?! But _you_ seemed pretty into Lucas tonight," shouted Nathan.

"Can we please leave him out of this, it was one date, what's the big deal?!" questioned an angry Brooke walking closer to him to continue the argument.

"What's the big deal?" he started in an angry tone and taking a step closer to Brooke,

"The big deal is when you go on a date, so does my son," said Nathan solemnly.

Brooke suddenly felt bad for excusing him and she reached out to give Nathan a comforting hug and this time they both felt the baby kick.

"I felt it," said Nathan happily, pulling away to rest his hands on her stomach hoping to feel it again, and he did.

"I'm sorry, Nathan I overreacted," she said.

"Me too," replied Nathan.

"Can I tell you something?" asked Brooke shyly.

"Anything," he said without hesitation.

"The baby only kicks when you're here," she told him again, shyly.

Nathan just smiled proudly.

Brooke continued, "Well more specifically whenever we touch,"

"What?" asked Nathan suddenly confused.

"I guess he loves his dad," she said shyly causing Nathan to smile widely.

"Brooke," he started looking up into her tear filled eyes, "I know it's not gonna be easy and we will probably have a few more fights, well, a lot more fights," he added with a laugh, "but I want you here, I wanna be there for everything. Move in with me?" he asked again.

"Nathan," she stated weighing the choices in her head.

"Look, I mean, I live in this big house all by myself, my dad was moved permanently to Charlotte for his job, he only came down for my first game and he'll be here during the playoffs, but other than that it's just me," confessed Nathan.

"Nathan, do you have any idea how hard this is gonna be?" she asked.

"Yeah, but it's worth it," he said with a smile quoting Brooke from earlier.

"I don't know, what about all my stuff? What about Kaitlyn?" she reasoned.

"Most of your stuff is still in boxes from when you moved in there and Kaitlyn is going back home at the end of the semester after Christmas. That's next month Brooke and I don't want you to be alone," said Nathan logically.

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	10. Never Wanted Nothing More

A/N: I have now posted a NEW promo for Behind These Eyes on youtube and you can also still access the 1st promo at www

A/N: I have now posted a NEW promo for Behind These Eyes on youtube and you can also still access the 1st promo at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

**However, I used two lines from 2x09, a line from 5x03 and 5x14.**

Ch. 8 – Never Wanted Nothing More

"Nathan, I…I don't know. Can you just give me until the end of week? I need to talk to Katie and…I don't know…Can you just give me a few days?" requested Brooke.

"Of course," he said with a smile, "so have you given any thought about who you wanna go with to formal?"

Brooke smiled at his nervousness and said, "Why have you given any thought about it?"

"Yeah, yeah a little," stated Nathan, "but she isn't sure that she wants to go with me so…"

"Well I think she should definitely go with you," she urged, hoping that he would finally ask her.

Winter formal. At Tree Hill High every year right before Thanksgiving vacation is the formal. As a little girl Brooke had always dreamed of going with Nathan and he dreamed of going with her, but it never seemed to work out. Freshman year she went with Lucas, since they were dating at the time. Sophomore year her and Nathan didn't start dating until the week after formal and finally last year, junior year they had been in a fight and didn't get to go together. This was there_ last_ chance, their _last_ year, and they had to make it **last**.

"Thanks Brooke. I knew Kaitlyn would have told you," he said in a friendly manner.

"Kaitlyn, right. Yeah, I'm sure she'll go with you," said Brooke with an artificial smile while trying to keep her tears at bay.

"So who were you thinking about?" asked Nathan nonchalantly.

"Um, I don't know maybe Lucas, he brought it up the other day," she stated indifferently.

"Lucas? Why?" he questioned, his jealousy getting the better of him.

Nathan had wanted to ask Brooke, but he still could never tell where they stood. Some days she seemed to be staring at him and the next she was glaring at him. These new hormones of hers were definitely a rollercoaster and he was still getting used to it. On top of that he didn't want to ruin the little bit of friendship they had gained back, by asking her and then have Brooke turn him down.

"Why does it matter? It's not like you were gonna ask me," she spat back, becoming angry.

It was becoming harder and harder to control her mood swings and it was safe to say that everyone was effected by them.

"Well even if I wanted to ask you, we can't even have the conversation because within the first 5 minutes you start yelling at me," he stated firmly.

"You were gonna ask me," she questioned softly with tears filling her eyes.

Nathan glanced down and when he looked back up he knew that she was the one. He had wanted to go with her since he was seven years old and a few obstacles weren't going to get in his way now, not everything they had to go through just to even get to this point.

"Of course I was," he said simply with a smile.

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"Okay so I'm thinking red, maybe even blue. What do you think?" asked Brooke as she walked through the mall with Kaitlyn.

"Brooke you look gorgeous in everything you wear, so can you stop asking pointless questions and finally answer mine – are you sure you're okay with me and Nathan going together?" she asked sincerely.

"Katie, look at me," she began as she came to a complete stop, "I am fine with it, okay. I don't want to go to formal with someone who doesn't want to be with me. So stop worrying or you'll look bad for the formal," finished Brooke with a smile.

"Thanks Brooke. And definitely get that blue one," said Kaitlyn with a laugh and Brooke joined in as they walked back into the dressing rooms.

"So you and Chase, huh? He's cute!" she said excitedly.

"He is super cute. And the way he asked me, he's just really sweet," said Brooke with a smile.

"Okay, now let's see it, the dress that hopefully Chase will rip off of you tonight," she teased.

"Katie," laughed Brooke and she walked out of the dressing room wearing a gorgeous blue dress.

"So if you were a guy would this dress do it for you?" asked Brooke.

"You look amazing! Spin," said Kaitlyn as she motioned for Brooke to turn.

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"You look nice tonight Brooke," said Chase as they stood in a large group of people.

_Nice – not exactly the reaction I was hoping for, but at least he thinks I look good,_ she thought.

Brooke then looked to the door and saw Nathan enter with Kaitlyn on his arm. As much as she said she was okay with it, she knew that it was going to be incredibly hard tonight to have to see them together. Before she could process all of her thoughts he was suddenly standing with the rest of their group.

"Wow Brooke. You look…wow," he said nearly speechless.

_That's more like it,_ she thought happily.

"Thanks," replied Brooke confidently which contrasted with her now flushed cheeks. He was always the only one who could make her feel this way.

"Kaitlyn, you look great. Dance?" asked Lucas from beside her with a hand held out to which she nodded cheerfully.

_A thousand times I've seen you standing_

_Gravity like a lunar landing_

"And in that case the first dance of the night goes to Nathan Scott," said Brooke as she pulled at his tie causing him to laugh. He then led her to the dance floor hand in hand.

"So how are feeling? You and the baby, I mean. You're doing okay right?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah. I'm doing really well. The baby's good. I'm good," she whispered softly.

"Good," he said with a laugh causing her to smile, "You know you look gorgeous tonight, right" he whispered in her ear as they swayed to the music.

"You may have mentioned it before," stated Brooke with a light laugh.

"I mean it Brooke, you look amazing," he said sincerely as he looked into her eyes.

_I never thought that I had anymore to give_

_You're pushing me so far_

_Here I am without you_

"Nathan, when you say things like that. I just…I don't know what you want me to say," she confessed.

_Drink_

_To all that we have lost_

_Mistakes we have made_

_Everything will change __**love remains the same**_

Nathan then leaned down and captured her lips in a soft kiss. It happened so quickly Brooke wasn't sure if she had possibly imagined it. But it was real and so were her feelings for him.

"I don't want you to say anything," he whispered as he pulled away, the song ended and he walked off leaving Brooke frozen in her spot.

Then realizing the situation she walked over to him quickly. He was standing beside Tim and Vegas who left as she appeared next to him.

"I don't want you doing things like that Nathan. It's not fair to me! And it's not fair to Kaitlyn either! You didn't ask me to formal and I'm here with Chase…so you don't get to have me! " stated Brooke firmly.

"I want you to stop seeing him. I want you Brooke! You. You and me, everyday. We're gonna have to work at this but I wanna do that because I want you," he stated with the same level of assurance.

Brooke stood there shaking her head while biting her bottom lip to keep her tears at bay, "I can't believe you're doing this to me. Here. Now. I just, I can't do this Nathan."

She then walked away from him to join Chase. Brooke continued to make light conversation with her friends. She had been avoiding Peyton not wanting to have any contact with her. Brooke wanted this to be the best formal not to mention the speech she had to give about it being 'the best' but it was ringing kind of false. She hadn't meant to come down as hard as she did on Nathan, but if she was completely honest with herself she knew she was jealous that he hadn't asked her to formal. Brooke was now standing by the punch bowl as she finally got a moment a herself, but then Chase appeared next her.

"You and Nathan, huh. He's a good guy," said Chase in a friendly manner.

Brooke then looked back over to Nathan who was standing with a group of people yet he had a broken look on his face that not even one of his friends had yet to acknowledge.

"Yeah, yeah he is, isn't he," she said as if suddenly realizing his sincerity herself, in just saying it aloud.

"Here," said Chase as he handed her a cup of punch, "it's actually really good this year."

Brooke laughed and took a sip, she then quickly spit it back into the cup, "I'm sorry, it's just, that it definitely not punch."

"Yeah I know, when is it ever," he joked, but then saw she was serious, "Brooke, are you okay? I mean haven't seen you have a drink since we got back to school. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were pregnant," he joked again, only to be met with the smile serious face.

"Brooke, are you pregnant?" he asked in shock, to which she simply nodded her head discreetly,

"Wow. I guess Nathan really is a good guy then. Most guys just bolt. I mean it's a big deal, its kids, I mean I know it's just one, but if you really want family, something that's like forever, forever scares a lot of us. I saw you two were fighting earlier, but maybe give him a break this one time, he seems to be trying."

"When did you get so wise, Chase Adams?" she joked with a smile.

"Well you know somewhere between all those years of crushing on you I did have to go to school, so…" he trailed with a smile.

"Well, you finally got me, so I guess you can stop going to school," she remarked with a laugh.

"You are one of kind Brooke Davis, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And you and Nathan, it'll work itself out, just go easy him, its tough believe me, I know from experience," he said.

"Yeah. How is Jessica?" asked Brooke.

"She's amazing. She is definitely the most important part of my life, with you in a close second of course," said Chase with a laugh, "but seriously, she is really amazing, she'll be a one year old in a few months."

The rest of the dance seemed to pass at an extremely fast pace. It was then time for the crowning of king and queen. Brooke had won queen freshmen and junior year. Rachel had won sophomore year by default since Brooke hadn't stayed until the crowning, having had her mother die just days before hand. Still Brooke always loved the feeling, there was nothing better to her than dancing in the middle of the room with the spotlight and all eyes on her. Bevin then took the stage to announce this year's winners. Suddenly the thought occurred that Nathan would most likely be king. He had won king every year, however last year he allowed Brooke's date to dance with her for the king/queen dance since they had been in a fight.

"And the senior class king is…" trailed Bevin as she slowly opened the envelope, "Nate! Oh my god, all four years! Nathan Scott!"

The students began to cheer and yell his name, as he walked up to the stage. Bevin then crowned him and moved back over to the mic.

"And now for your senior class queen…Brooke Davis! Yeah, Brooke!" she yelled as the rest of the students joined her as Brooke also walked up to the stage, "And now since this is our last winter formal we are using our freshmen song for the last dance! And our theme of freshmen year was 'Laugh Until You Cry.' So let's make this our best seniors! Brooke and Nathan you two get the first dance,"

The first string of the melody began to play when Nathan whispered to her,

"We don't have to do this, you can get Chase. I know how important this last year is to you and I want you to remember it right."

"This feels right to me," she said softly as she took his hand and they walked down to the dance floor.

_Going through my closet the other day_

_Found an old yearbook flipped right to the page of that senior trip_

_Down there on the Panama strip_

"Yeah!" yelled everyone as they thought of their trip to Panama a few months ago.

_We all started yelling when we smelled the beach_

_Couldn't to try our fake IDs_

_We only had a few days_

_And a whole lot of memories to make_

Brooke held onto Nathan as if, if she released him he would be gone forever. This was their last year and she wanted her dream as a little girl to come true. It didn't matter if she and Nathan weren't together at the moment, they had shared a lot of good memories together and she wanted to remember all of that. The music became a backdrop to all her childhood memories playing through her head.

_Oh man we we're living didn't waste one minute_

_We talked and drank and danced and said goodbye _

_We laughed until we cried_

"I wanna move in with you," she whispered.

"What?" asked Nathan excitedly, just wanting to hear her say it again.

The rest of the students then began to join them in dancing.

"I've been thinking about what I want, who I want and I want to move in with you. If you'll still have me," she explained softly.

"Yeah!" yelled Nathan as he lifted her gently into the air and spinning around, "This is amazing Brooke."

"It's a dream come true," she said happily, having finally had her childhood dream of the winter formal come true.

_This past year my family was sitting cross-legged around the Christmas tree_

_Listening to granddad we all knew it'd probably be his last_

_He was cracking jokes and we taking turns_

_Telling stories about fishin' and lessons learned_

"I used to love this song," she whispered sadly.

"I know," answered Nathan softly, "it was your mom's favorite. They played it at uh…"

"It's okay, you can say it. Her funeral," said Brooke as a few tears streamed down her face and Nathan brushed them away softly with his thumb.

_Out on the porch with her we all felt like kids again_

_Oh man we were living sitting there reminiscing_

_We sang and talked and traveled back in time_

_We laughed until we cried_

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_Let's drop! Yeah! Come on! Shake, shake!_

_I'll take you home if you don't leave me at the front door (leave me at the front door)_

_Your body's cold, but girl we're getting so warm_

_And I was thinking of ways that I could get inside_

"So you're really leaving at the end of the semester?" asked Lucas.

"Yeah, it's gonna be hard leaving Brooke but she has Nathan now so I think she'll be okay," answered Kaitlyn.

"That was kinda shitty of Nathan. I mean he asks you to formal and at formal he gets back together with his ex-girlfriend. I don't get what so many people see in the guy. I mean he's a total jackass. He probably doesn't even love Brooke, he just wants to be seen with her," he ranted.

"Lucas that's not really any of your business. First of all Nathan asked me as a friend, we went as friends because he didn't want to ruin his friendship with Brooke by asking her. And he is definitely not a jackass, he loves her and he is there for her, more than anyone knows. So before you go attacking one of my friends make sure you get your facts straight," defended Kaitlyn.

"Okay, okay. I didn't realize you felt that strongly about him. I guess I lose every girl I like to 'the great Nathan Scott'," he remarked.

"You like me?" she questioned with a teasing smile.

_So now you're falling in love _

_(Oh here we go now)_

_This feeling's tearing me up_

_(Here we go now)_

Lucas answered by pushing her into the corner as he kissed her roughly. Kaitlyn was surprised at first but quickly responded by opening her mouth to allow him entrance. After a few minutes she began to feel him harden against her leg.

"Let's go upstairs," she muttered against his lips.

_Now if she does it like this_

_Will you do it like that?_

_If she touches like this_

_Will you touch her right back?_

"Yeah," he said huskily as they made there way to the stairs.

_If she moves like this_

_Will you move like that?_

_Come on, shake, shake, shake, shake, uh shake it_

"Looks like Katie and Lucas are going upstairs," said Brooke with a laugh, "it's about time."

"Yeah well just hope that the room they go into isn't the one that I'm gonna give you when you move in here," he joked.

"Ew," said Brooke as she playfully hit him in the hand, "for that you have to dance with me."

"Brooke, you know I don't dance," he remarked.

"Come on Nate it's a party. Please!" she begged with a smile.

"You called me Nate," he replied with a grin, "I missed that."

Brooke smiled and gave him a light kiss, "I missed _that_. Now we dance."

She grabbed his hand and led him to the makeshift dance floor in the middle of Nathan's house.

"Brooke, you know I would do a lot for you, but dancing…not my thing," he answered as he stepped to the side of the dance floor. Brooke shrugged, turned around and began to dance despite him not wanting to. It wasn't a few seconds before one of the basketball guys was standing behind her, moving with Brooke to the beat of the music. She had assumed Nathan had given in and she turned to met him face-to-face only to be met with Daniel right behind her. She then turned back and moved a few steps to the side in order to get away from him but he followed. Nathan then suddenly noticed that Daniel was grinding with Brooke and walked towards them to stop it, when he saw Brooke trying to move away from Daniel.

"Hey, stop it!" she eventually said firmly, but Daniel persisted.

"Hey man she said to stop," said Nathan strongly as he stood next to him.

Daniel knew better than to mess with Nathan so he decided to move on to the next girl. In hope of dancing with her.

"I guess dancing was a bad idea," stated Brooke sadly.

"No it's not. It was a bad idea for me not to dance with you. So let's go," he suggested as he began to move to the music. Brooke smiled widely and began to move her hips, when suddenly Nathan's hands moved to them. They were both moving together as one with the music. Unable to resist herself any longer Brooke ran her hands through his hair and pulled him down to her for a passionate kiss, all the while still moving to the beat. They both finally pulled apart for air, stopped moving and Brooke whispered into his ear,

"Make love to me. I want you. I need you."

"Brooke, are you sure? I mean, are you sure?" asked Nathan cautiously.

She nodded her head while biting her bottom lip nervously. Nathan then took her hand in his and brought them up the stairs to his bedroom. As they entered the room the two began to kiss while Nathan walked them backwards towards his bed and Brooke slid his jacket off of him. He then sat on the edge with Brooke straddling him, she then pushed him back so that they were both lying down, the two continued to kiss passionately on the bed, tongues dancing together. After a few minutes Nathan couldn't take it anymore as he flipped them over, putting him now on top and in control, still careful not to put too much weight on Brooke. His hands began to push the bottom of her dress up to her thigh, when he suddenly felt her small hand upon his.

"What, what's wrong? Is it the baby?" he asked worriedly as he sat up.

Brooke then began to cry, causing worrying him more, "No, nothing's wrong. I- I'm so sorry. I just, I can't do this. I'm so sorry. This is so embarrassing."

"Brooke, it's okay," he said gently as she shook her head, "really it is. Come on, are you sure you're okay?"

"I just, I started thinking about how this is it. I mean it's really all gonna be over, this is our last formal and…I'm really gonna miss you," she explained she has began to cry again.

"Hey, I'm here now, okay. And I am _always_ gonna be there for you and our son. I promise," he said confidently and Brooke crashed into him, taking his mouth forcefully she then pulled away in need of air and they both rested their foreheads against each other with closed eyes. Both of their breathing was fast and rugged as they tried to come back down from the high that both immediately felt every time they merely touched.

"Let's just take this slow," said Nathan more huskily then he had intended.

"Yeah," she replied with her eyes still closed as she tried to catch her breath.

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	11. Author Note

Hey Everyone! :)

I'm so sorry I haven't updated, however I do have a few chapters completed. Please let me know if anyone is still reading and if you are all still interested I will post a new chapter shortly. I also have a new promo that I will be uploading to my youtube account Ally9292, for the second half of the story, seeing as it is about half way done. This video too will only be added if there is still interest.

Please Let Me Know )

And as always I love to hear from you all,

xoxo

Alyssa


	12. You Save Me

I'm so glad to hear that there are still readers out there. :) I'm sorry for the wait, but i hope you feel that it was worth it after this chapter. A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially those who have been with this story since it started! :) The new promo should be posted either today or tomorrow evening, so you can look for that soon :)

A/N: Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at /watch?vK5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 8 – You Save Me

It was now the Monday following Brooke's decision to the move in with Nathan and the formal. After Brooke and Nathan's slipup at the formal they both decided to slow it down and be friends. She had chocked it up to an emotional day and that her feelings for Nathan wouldn't resurface anytime soon. However, the news of their "move in" spread like wildfire among the student body. It was the burning topic today in the quad.

"I know can you believe it," whispered one the cheerleaders in the quad.

"I can't even imagine why he would take her back," whispered another cheerleader to her boyfriend who responded with, "cuz she's hot," earning himself a shove.

"What's he thinking?" said one of the basketball players softly.

"Brooke Davis always gets what she wants," said another.

"Did you see them at the party a few weeks?" whispered the next cheerleader.

"I heard he went upstairs with Rachel," said Daniel.

"No way, I saw him leave with Brooke," whispered Bevin.

"Brooke came with Lucas, I know she did, we we're playing I've Never with the both of them," said Vegas one of the few who even remembered Friday night clearly.

"Yeah, Vegas is right during the game Peyton went off on Brooke, then Nathan went off on Peyton, and then Brooke and Nathan left together," said Theresa.

"Hey guys you know what I saw," she began mysteriously as everyone listened intently, "I just saw an old friend helping Brooke out, that's what I saw, so back off Brooke and Nathan!" yelled Kaitlyn walking off to join Brooke.

"Thanks Katie," said Brooke sincerely, "but I just think this was a really bad idea."

"Come here," said Kaitlyn decisively pulling Brooke's arm to move her into the girls' bathroom.

"You check those stalls on that side I'll check these," ordered Kaitlyn motioning to the bathroom stalls.

"Clear," they both said, signaling that they were free to talk with no one in the bathroom, Kaitlyn then took the garbage can and placed it under the knob to ensure no one could get into the bathroom.

"Okay, listen, it's nearly Thanksgiving and before you know it, the first semester is going to be over and I'm gonna be gone Brooke, you can't do this alone," said Kaitlyn solemnly.

"Katie, I don't want you to go, this was never part of the plan, what happened to 'the three of us against the world'," asked Brooke, "that's what you said in California," finished Brooke on the verge on tears.

"Brooke, I know," comforted Kaitlyn, "but I miss my family, as dysfunctional as they are, they're my family," ended Kaitlyn with a sad smile and laugh.

"You're right you should go, I would give anything to have my family back, so I understand that you need to be with yours," stated Brooke sadly.

"Brooke, you're gonna have your own family, you, this baby and Nathan," said Kaitlyn firmly letting her know that Nathan needs to be included.

"I don't know Kaitlyn, I mean Nathan's got basketball and I'm sure he's gonna play college ball. He's gonna be gone too, which is another reason I shouldn't move in with him. I mean where am I gonna go after graduation, he's going to leave for college and I won't have anywhere to go," said Brooke with tears in her eyes.

"RRIINNGG" sounded the bell notifying the students that they now had four minutes to get to their first period class.

"Look, Brooke I gotta get to class, but everything's gonna be alright, okay. Since you have free maybe you should talk to Nathan, and don't even try to deny it, I know there isn't lab on Mondays, so he has free today," stated Kaitlyn confidently giving her a hug and walking out heading to class.

Brooke walked out into the quad to find it completely empty. She wasn't surprised though, it was the middle of November so it had been cold in Tree Hill for a while now, and most of the students spent their free periods inside the building or didn't come in if they had first free. Brooke took a seat at one of the picnic tables, realizing she had forgotten her coat in her locker, but the passing period was over and she wouldn't be able to get it without risking a detention.

"I'll just have to do without it. I guess it's just you and me again," whispered Brooke.

"Are you talking to yourself?" asked Nathan amused walking up from behind Brooke and taking a seat beside her.

"I saw you walk out here and thought I'd try to convince you to come out of the cold, it's not good you know," explained Nathan, receiving a look from Brooke, "or I could just keep you company," finished Nathan with a laugh knowing Brooke wasn't going to come in judging by the look he received.

"So, how's the packing coming?" asked Nathan eagerly.

"Nathan, we made a mistake," stated Brooke sadly her eyes watering again, "this move, this baby…"

"Hey, hey, this baby is not a mistake. He is a miracle and he brought us to this place in this moment, with each other. And this move is gonna be great," he assured Brooke placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You really think so?" asked an unsure Brooke.

"I know so," replied Nathan confidently.

"The baby kicked again," started Brooke with a smile, "when you touched my shoulder,"

Nathan smiled back at her, knowing he couldn't reach out to feel it, when they were sitting in the quad. The two sat in silence for a few minutes and for the first time in a while it was a comfortable silence, not an awkward silence. Nathan blew air from his mouth into his hands and rubbed them together, in an attempt to warm his hands. He then looked over at Brooke to see her shiver.

"Are you sure you don't want to go inside?" questioned Nathan.

"I sit out here all the time and when I'm here and it gets really quiet, like now, I can still hear the echoes of who we used to be, you and me and Peyton," she confessed, beginning to cry, "some days it's comforting, but others it's just really hard. More lately."

Nathan didn't know how to respond to her confession so he simply took off his jacket and placed it over arms, which were covered by just a thin long sleeve shirt, and he gave her a small, sad smile. Brooke knew what he was doing, their freshmen year they sat in this very same spot in the cold, just a few days after her mom's funeral, and she told him stories about her and her mom, just needing to talk, and once she had finished crying and talking he didn't speak, he simply placed his coat over her and gave her a soft comforting kiss. Their first real kiss. Although the two of them weren't officially a couple until sophomore year it was their first step towards becoming more than just the friends they had been for most of their lives.

Brooke smiled at the memory and gently rested her head in the nook of his neck, allowing herself to cry, just as she did that day back in freshmen year.

"Everyone that matters to me is always taken away," sniffled Brooke, "what did I do to deserve that."

_Her mom or Peyton_ thought Nathan, as if reading his mind she spoke again,

"All of it, my mom, Kaitlyn's leaving soon, Peyton," Brooke paused unsure if she should continue, "us."

"Hey, you didn't do anything," began Nathan reassuringly, "and I am still here and so is Peyton and Kaitlyn's gonna be around for a little longer." Nathan knew that 'us' was referring to them as a couple not friends, but he chose to pretend to not notice that.

"I know, god, I'm being such a baby about this," replied Brooke laughing through her tears and wiping her eyes.

"No you're not, you're just…I don't know, but we are gonna get through this, all of it, all of us, together," added Nathan giving her hand a soft squeeze with a smile, which she gratefully returned.

"I felt the baby," whispered Nathan touching her again so that the baby would kick and he did.

"Can you stop doing that? It's not the most comfortable thing," joked Brooke.

"I'm sorry," answered Nathan with a laugh and leaning in to give her a hug only to be met with Brooke crossing her fingers in an 'X',

"No way, you know he kicks when you touch me," said Brooke shyly.

Nathan just smirked and Brooke was not pleased, "You really are enjoying this aren't you? Having me at your mercy?"

"Just a little bit," he joked, while standing up, "come on, let me bring you inside."

"I'll buy a hot chocolate," Nathan added with a smile extending his hand.

"Okay," responded Brooke handing him his jacket and taking his hand.

Nathan saw Brooke's face as she took as hand and knew the baby had kicked and he smiled at that and Brooke just shook her head jokingly.

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Brooke was now sitting in 8th period and seriously wondering how teachers could be so cruel as to assign homework this close to Thanksgiving vacation.

_Okay I only have two more days, two more days, and then vacation,_ thought Brooke as the crisp fall air blew throughout the classroom. Brooke looked to her right and saw Peyton just two rows back. It wasn't accidental, Brooke had known that was Peyton's seat and she had intended to look for her. After Brooke's conversation with Nathan in the quad she had been thinking about the three of them and how close they used to be, _before I screwed it all up by leaving for the summer, _thought Brooke. Brooke began to hear people whispering softly about their weekends, but mainly about her and Nathan. She was tired of hearing all these people who claimed to be her friends, now against her. Brooke began to feel sick again and wished Nathan was in the class with her, just to even send her a small smile, but he wasn't and no one was smiling at her.

"Mr. Miller, may I please use the restroom?" Brooke managed to get out.

"Yes, but hurry back," he replied annoyed.

Brooke walked at a normal pace from her teacher's desk to out of the classroom, but once she stepped in the yell way she began to run towards the bathroom. Nathan was sitting in class and saw Brooke run past his door and knew she must be getting sick,

"Mr. Adams, can I go to the bathroom?" asked Nathan with a raised hand.

"Hurry up," answered his teacher, with the same annoyance as Brooke's.

Nathan hurried out of the classroom hoping to catch Brooke before she entered the bathroom. He caught up with her and she did not look good. Brooke was on the verge of tears and held her hand covering her mouth, waiting for someone to come out of the private bathroom, which was unisex.

"This is ridiculous," Nathan shouted at the door and began pounding on it, and a junior quickly emerged from the bathroom, clearly high, "are you joking? You used this bathroom to light up! Some people actually need it! Get out of here!" yelled Nathan and turned back to Brooke but she was already in the bathroom. Nathan gently knocked on the door and when he heard no response he slowly opened the door, to see Brooke sitting beside the toilet on the floor.

"Are you okay, now?" asked Nathan concerned, to which Brooke responded by throwing up again. Nathan held back her hair and rubbed her back, as they had both become used to. Brooke flushed the toilet again and slowly stood up followed by Nathan.

"Thanks," she said meekly, "but you didn't have to leave class for me."

"Brooke, I saw you run by and I didn't want you alone, I mean you just said Friday that it helps when somebody's with you and I don't know I guess I wanted that somebody to be me," said Nathan in the same tone as Brooke sending her a small smile. Not giving Brooke a chance to respond, he said,

"I gotta get back to class."

"Nathan," began Brooke.

"Don't, you'll ruin it," he simply replied with a smile and walked off.

Brooke smiled to herself and quietly walked back to class ready to face all the talking.

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"Brooke," began a joking Kaitlyn holding up a spice girls mug, "really?"

"Hey! Peyton gave that to me the day of my mom's funeral," Brooke defended snatching it from Kaitlyn and wrapped it bubble-wrap tossing it into the open box.

"Sorry I didn't realize it was so special," teased Kaitlyn again.

"Shut up, Katie," joked Brooke with a laugh.

"Why do you want anything from Peyton anyway? You two haven't even really talked since last June," stated Kaitlyn.

"I don't know, I miss her sometimes," said Brooke quietly wishing Kaitlyn would change the subject. Kaitlyn sensed this and changed the subject.

"Okay, now we have to start on your clothes," suggested Kaitlyn motioning to Brooke's extremely full closet.

"Do we have too?" whined Brooke, but still glad to be on a new topic.

"Yeah, if you wanna get out of here before the 4th of July," said Kaitlyn jokingly.

Brooke just sent her a look and replied, "Whatever, let's just get started."

Both girls looked at the closet and then back at each other and laughed.

"Where do we-" started Kaitlyn.

"I have no idea," interrupted Brooke, both laughing again.

The pair then heard knocking at the door and both yelled "I'll get it!" in a desperate attempt to avoid packing her closet and both took off for the door, Brooke got there first laughing and opened the door to reveal Lucas Roe with a roll of masking tape in hand.

"Aw, thank you Lucas," stated Brooke genuinely taking the tape from his hands.

"Actually, I came to see Kaitlyn, I heard she was leaving at the end of the semester and thought she might need help packing," said Lucas shyly.

"Of course you did," replied Brooke feeling incredibly embarrassed.

"Are you moving too, though?" asked Lucas curiously.

"You haven't heard, it seems as if the entire school did," said a defeated Brooke.

"I wasn't in school today, you know I was 'sick'" laughed Lucas with air quotes and adding in a fake cough.

"Brooke's moving in with Nathan," clapped Kaitlyn happily speaking for the first time.

"Oh," said Lucas sadly, "it was nice seeing you guys, but I really just wanted to drop this off for Kaitlyn, I'll see you around."

Kaitlyn and Brooke exchanged a confused look and Brooke then motioned towards the door signaling for Kaitlyn to go after him.

"Luke! Hey, Lucas!" yelled Kaitlyn running to catch up to him.

"Were you ever gonna tell me?" asked Lucas aggravated and he just received a confused look from Kaitlyn, "about Brooke," he explained further.

"Um, I guess, but I just found out Saturday, so," she trailed off, "wait, why does it even matter?"

"I, it, I don't know" stuttered Lucas looking defeated.

"You don't wanna be with me?," stated Kaitlyn sadly.

"Maybe it could've turned into something more, but you're leaving in a month and I really wanted to give things with Brooke another try," said Lucas honestly.

Kaitlyn sighed before beginning, "Look Luke, I think you're a great guy and so does Brooke, but I talked to her on Saturday and most if not all of our conversation was about you and Nathan. Now I'm totally breaking the 'friendship code' but I don't want you to get hurt so… She basically said that what you guys had was fun but also a long time ago and that you were fair game. She actually said she would be happy for us. She wants Nathan, Lucas. You have to know that, on some level.

"Yeah, I know, but it's Brooke, I mean I've liked her since 7th grade," replied Lucas.

"She also said to 'be careful' care to explain that one?" questioned Kaitlyn.

"Well, me and Brooke dated freshmen year on and off as I'm sure you knew. Well, anyway we broke up for the umpteenth time right before her mom died. We got back together like a week after the funeral but it just wasn't the same, she seemed, I don't know…distant, maybe, I don't know, anyway I was young and stupid and… I cheated on her," he stated appearing disappointed in himself.

"Are you kidding me?" questioned an angry Kaitlyn.

"With Peyton," finished Lucas.

Kaitlyn just looked at him disappointed and angry and walked away, without a word.

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"With Peyton, Brooke!" yelled Kaitlyn as she stormed into the house, "I knew I should have kicked her ass, I knew from the beginning that she was a good for nothing little motherfuc-"

"Katie, she didn't mean to hurt me, they were both drunk and young and I eventually forgave them both. Believe it or not it actually made me and Peyton closer, we never lied to each other and she just came right out and told me, it wasn't like an ongoing affair behind my back and I respected that," interrupted Brooke calmly, "the only reason it took me longer to forgive Lucas was because he wouldn't admit to it, but I did forgive him because I know deep down he really is, a really good guy. Katie, just give him a chance,"

"I don't know what to be more surprised at," laughed Kaitlyn now calmer, "that Brooke Davis actually sounded mature in that speech or that you forgave them."

Both girls laughed and Kaitlyn knew she had to tell Brooke what Lucas had said.

"He wants you back Brooke. Lucas, he doesn't want me, he wants you," Kaitlyn confessed solemnly.

"Why did you tell me that?" asked Brooke curiously.

"I would've given anything to hear him say me," Kaitlyn stated with teary eyes.

"Katie, it's okay, come here," said Brooke giving Kaitlyn a hug and allowing her to cry, "okay, now you have to stop crying okay, cuz I'm gonna start crying if you don't," finished Brooke jokingly, but still with watery eyes.

"Okay," Kaitlyn laughed through her tears and wiped her eyes, "thanks Brooke."

"I do what I can," Brooke replied simply while standing up, "okay now missy let's get back to packing 'if I wanna get what of here before the 4th of July'" playfully mocked Brooke while tapping her leg and heading into the bedroom. They both heard another knock at the door, but this time Brooke answered to reveal Nathan

"Hey," said Brooke happily.

"Hey, buddy," said Nathan as he gave her a hug and felt the baby kick.

"Okay, I'm just gonna go pack some more of your stuff," said Kaitlyn motioning towards the room Brooke and Kaitlyn shared.

"Oh, Kaitlyn wait, I forgot you haven't felt the baby kick yet," said Brooke with a smile

"How could you forget that, I've been waiting forever."

"The baby kicked just now, Katie, I want you to feel it," replied Brooke.

Kaitlyn walked over to Brooke placing her hands where the baby had previously kicked.

"Brooke, I don't feel anything," stated Kaitlyn disappointed.

"Sorry, he stopped," said Brooke also disappointed Kaitlyn didn't get to feel it after being there for her when no one else was there.

"Here, I can help you out," said Nathan confidently as he tapped Brooke's shoulder and immediately the baby started kicking.

"Oh my god, I feel it," exclaimed Kaitlyn.

"This isn't funny Nathan, you can't just do that whenever you want," said Brooke.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kaitlyn confused.

"Whenever Nathan, um," started Brooke embarrassed.

"Touches you," filled in Nathan with a confident smirk and Brooke just threw him a look.

"the baby kicks," finished Brooke.

"The baby kicks whenever Nathan touches you. Nice," laughed Kaitlyn along with Nathan.

"I don't know why you both think this is funny," said Brooke beginning to cry.

"She's been going this a lot lately," whispered Kaitlyn.

"Shut up, Katie," she said still crying.

"Brooke, we're sorry," said Nathan giving her a hug and ironically the baby kicked again.

"I hate this," cried Brooke knowing the baby had kicked, "Katie, hug me instead," suggested Brooke and Kaitlyn laughed walking over to her to give her a hug.

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"Okay, so you only have your clothes to bring over now," said Nathan happily while taking a seat beside Brooke on his couch.

"Yep," said Brooke in the same tone.

"So, I was thinking about the other night, you know the night of the formal," started Nathan.

"Can we please not bring that up again?" begged Brooke embarrassed.

"Look Brooke, I know I agreed to this friends thing, but I honestly don't think I can be around you all day and not wanna be with you," asked Nathan looking directly into her eyes.

"Yeah?" whispered Brooke not trusting herself to speak any louder with Nathan this close to her.

Nathan then leaned in and kissed Brooke,

"Yeah," he mumbled against her lips and the baby kicked.

It started as a light feathery kiss, but Brooke deepened it and Nathan didn't protest. He pushed his tongue against her asking for entrance and she gladly granted it, both their tongues battling for control in each others mouth. Nathan then gently pushed her down hovering above her careful not to put any of his weight on Brooke, all the while their lips still connected. Brooke slowly pulled away when air became an issue with her eyes still closed.

Nathan opened his mouth to say something but Brooke interrupted him with his words from earlier,

"Don't you'll ruin it." she whispered and then softly kissed him again and moved from beneath him, walked out the door, down the driveway and into the car with Kaitlyn.

**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND IT HELPS ME DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE STORY :)**


	13. Somebody Take Me Home

**Thank you all so much for the reviews :) The next chapter should be up within a few days, it's a Thanksgiving post so get ready for some more drama! :p**

A/N: The new promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes is posted on my youtube account under the username Ally9292. Another reminder that you can STILL access the original promo.

.com/watch?v=zcIf77rfz8k

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 10 – Somebody Take Me Home

Today was the last day of school before Thanksgiving vacation also meaning that Thanksgiving was tomorrow. Brooke had avoided Nathan yesterday unsure of what the other night had meant. _Does he wanna be with me for real? Did it mean anything to him?_ thought Brooke while standing in the lunch line beside Kaitlyn.

"So can we please eat inside today? I know you're avoiding him, but it's not gonna do you any good, especially since you're moving in completely tomorrow," stated Kaitlyn.

"I know that and because of that, yes we are eating inside today," said Brooke with a smile.

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"You know I really wondered why Nathan would want you to move in with him, but after hearing your little chat with Kaitlyn the other day now I know – you're pregnant," remarked Christina, a cheerleader, "I mean you did a pretty good job hiding it especially since your wearing your normal clothes, which makes me wonder are you even pregnant or are you just trying to lock in Nathan before he heads off to college and finds out you're just his fun, dumb, high school ex-girlfriend who never really had a future and that there's a lot of girls out there beyond this little rinky-dink town of Tree Hill, girls who have seen the world and want him to be able to also, girls like me," finished Christina with a pleased smile on her face and she then walked away from Brooke and Kaitlyn along with her laughing friends.

"Brooke, are you okay?" asked Kaitlyn once Christina was out of sight.

Brooke simply nodded her head, contrary to the truth, with tears in her eyes and got out of the lunch line.

Kaitlyn then contemplated running after her or waiting in line so that she would have lunch. She decided she would wait in line and then find her afterwards, in the mean time she took out her cell phone and called Nathan.

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Brooke was now sitting out on the quad by herself. Yesterday, she had eaten lunch out here with Kaitlyn, in hopes of avoiding Nathan. They had chosen the corner table, which you couldn't see from the lunch room. Brooke could feel the cold November air, but it didn't matter she just had to get out of there.

"Hey, stranger," spoke Nathan taking a seat beside Brooke.

Nathan had gotten the call from Kaitlyn telling him to find Brooke because she was upset over what Christina had said and he had immediately knew where to find her, the quad.

"Hey," whispered Brooke with tears still in her eyes.

"I missed you yesterday," said Nathan.

"You missed me as in you didn't see me or you missed me like 'I haven't seen you in a while I miss you' type way?" questioned Brooke frustrated.

"I don't know both I guess," stated Nathan with a confused look.

"No, Nathan which did you mean? Because I'm having a hard time figuring out what you want from this. Are we friends? Are we more than that? What are we now?" asked Brooke on the verge on tears again.

Nathan replied by kissing her softly and they both smiled at each other.

"So I heard about Christina," said Nathan careful again.

"The whole lunch room heard Christina and she's right," said Brooke looking down.

"No, she's not. Brooke you do have a future, whether it's with me or not I truthfully don't know, but I wanna at least give us a second try" added Nathan confidently.

Brooke was about to protest when Nathan said, "Don't you'll,"

"Ruin it," interrupted Brooke with a sad smile, "Thank you."

"Let's get outta here," suggested Nathan.

"I can't go back in there, Nathan. Everyone knows," said Brooke now sobbing.

"Come on, I'll bring you home," said Nathan holding out his hand and Brooke just looked at it.

"Come on, we used to skip geometry all the time, remember," said Nathan with a smirk thinking of their make out sessions in his car back in sophomore year, "plus it's the day before Thanksgiving vacation and senior year, I'm sure we won't miss much, the day's halfway over anyway."

"Okay," said Brooke placing her hand in his, with a small sniffle.

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Brooke and Nathan were now in the car and he passed up Brooke and Kaitlyn's apartment.

"Where are you going, I thought you said you were bringing me home?" questioned Brooke.

"I am," said Nathan normally.

Brooke knew when he said he was referring to his house, but she wasn't quite ready to call it that yet.

The two pulled into his driveway and got out of the car.

"Okay, so I figured we could just stay in, you know and catch up, watch a movie or something maybe," suggested Nathan tossing his keys on the table next to the door in the foyer.

"Sounds good," replied Brooke sincerely, "Can I change then, into something more comfortable?"

"Yeah, sure," said Nathan, laughing at the face Brooke made while tugging at her clothes.

Brooke started up the stairs and then realized she didn't know which room her clothes were in, she turned opening her mouth to ask and Nathan knowing her question, said, "The second master bedroom."

"Isn't that your room?" asked Brooke uncomfortably, knowing that it was.

"No, now it's your room, I'm right next door in one of the guest bedrooms," answered Nathan.

"Nathan, you don't have to give up your room, I really don't need a bedroom that big," responded Brooke.

"It's fine, now hurry and change so I can start the movie," said Nathan playfully.

Brooke just laughed and hurried up the stairs. She came down a few minutes later with her same clothes on and found Nathan on the couch watching Sports Center in his flannel pajama pants and a Ravens shirt. He then looked up wondering why she hadn't changed yet.

"I thought you were changing," stated Nathan.

"All my clothes are packed still and I forgot to mark the boxes. I started looking through some, but I can't find them," said Brooke sounding defeated and plopping down onto the couch.

"You can just wear something of mine and I'll help you unpack later okay?" proposed Nathan.

"Deal," said Brooke also laughing as Nathan headed up the stairs to get something for Brooke to wear.

He returned a few minutes later and tossed Brooke his long-sleeved Blue Duke t-shirt,

"Thanks," Brooke said with a laugh and headed towards the bathroom to change.

Brooke was back in under a minute and sitting on the couch with Nathan, who still had Sports Center on.

Nathan looked over at Brooke and couldn't help the memories that flooded back to him of her over at his house in just one of his t-shirts. He loved the way she looked in them. But looking over at her he noticed that Brooke was beginning to show. Nathan was actually surprised she wasn't already, Brooke was now about four or five months pregnant and he was becoming concerned that something might be wrong with the baby, but seeing her now he smiled.

"What?" asked Brooke confused at his smile.

"Nothing it's just, you're starting to show," said Nathan still smiling, "plus I always loved the way you looked in my shirts."

Brooke blushed but talked in spite of it, "I've been showing for a while now, I've just become good at hiding it at school, plus the cold weather helps since you can where layers and stuff. And at cheer I can basically wear whatever I want since I'm captain," finished Brooke smiling when she said 'captain'.

Nathan just laughed and shook his head, _only Brooke_ he thought.

"Well when you're here, I don't want you to hide it," said Nathan with a smile which Brooke returned slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, I was promised a movie, so where is it," said Brooke playfully hitting his knee hoping to lighten the mood.

"Right, um I have..." trailed Nathan walking over towards the movie stand.

"The Notebook," interrupted Brooke with a smile, "that sounds great Nathan, I can't believe you would suggest that," she finished with a laugh.

"On second thought why don't we talk first, it's already late anyway," said Nathan also laughing and moving back to the couch.

"Okay, what do you wanna talk about?" asked Brooke.

"College. I mean we just applied a few months ago for the early ones," said Nathan, "but, since we talked with the counselor person last year I already know what you wanted then but did any of them change?"

"Only one," said Brooke looking down.

"Yeah, which one?" prodded Nathan curiously.

"Duke," whispered Brooke still looking down.

"You didn't apply to Duke," asked Nathan more as a statement but sounding hurt.

During junior year they had both talked about going to Duke together and Nathan could play basketball and Brooke would cheer there and also major in fashion. Both of them did a lot of research and found that Duke did have a fashion program, it was not well known, but it was however on the rise.

"Nathan, we weren't speaking at the beginning of the year and I was avoiding you in school and the thought of having to do that for the next four years…I don't know it just never occurred to me that we would ever be… back here at a good place," said Brooke sadly, "but I did talk to Ms. Richards a few weeks ago and I was gonna apply to Duke now, but it would just be normally it wouldn't count as early. But I mean if you don't want me to I would understand. I mean, I know Duke is your dream and you should be able to have that without having to deal with a baby or me in the way."

"I'd love if you applied there," confessed Nathan, "I want the three of us to be together, but if you don't want to go to Duke, I'll follow you to whatever school you **do** want to be at, because yes, Duke is my dream, but do you remember who helped me realize this dream?"

Brooke nodded her head with tears in her eyes.

"Brooke I've known you since we were seven years old, I remember the day you moved to town in that house right across the street, red door and all," began Nathan pointing across the street to her former house, that had now been for sale since June. There had been many offers but Brooke had always called her Dad to convince him to raise the price or that the buyers were unsuitable, "Peyton and I were in my driveway and the minute I saw you with your long wavy brown hair in pigtails and your bright eyes, I knew you were different, I wanted to get to know you. You were the first one to even acknowledge me playing basketball. Everyone around me just thought it was some hobby I did, that was completely pointless. You were the first one to tell me I was actually good. You were the one who encouraged me to play basketball in the little league team at the park. It was you and at the time we were just little kids. I honestly don't think I would be where I am now, if it wasn't for you. So yes, Duke is my dream, but you were my dream first, that little girl with brown pigtails and big eyes," finished Nathan sincerely.

Brooke just smiled through her tears and closed her eyes asking, "What color are my eyes?"

Nathan laughed that, that was the first thing Brooke said but answered quickly.

"Hazel. But, in the summer when you're tan or anytime when you're excited and they light up, they sometimes look only green though," replied Nathan without hesitation which caused Brooke to smile widely and open her eyes.

"You remember all that?" asked Brooke.

"Of course I do, I loved you Brooke," he said and regretted it as soon as he said it but he then looked over at Brooke to see her face drop when he said _loved._

_Loved. As in past tense. He doesn't love me anymore. After all we've been through, it really is over. That kiss meant nothing to him. What the hell was I thinking, that after all this time and everything that's happened that he could still possibly love me?_ thought Brooke.

"Brooke, I didn't mean, I mean I did mean that I loved you, but I-" started Nathan only to be interrupted by Brooke,

"It's okay, Nathan, you don't have to explain," began Brooke teary-eyed, "I'm just gonna call Lucas to come get me, since Kaitlyn's out of town, but it might take me a while to get all my stuff back into my apartment."

"Brooke," begged Nathan.

"Really, it's okay" she said while crying and standing up off of the couch.

"Brooke, this was always our problem. You never let me explain anything and you run away!" said Nathan shouting the end becoming aggravated.

"No, you know what our problem was, Nathan. _You_ were never completely open with your feelings and you still aren't you'd rather just fight about it. Today in the quad I asked you point blank 'what are we', and you never even said anything," cried Brooke also aggravated, "And the reason I leave is because I don't like fighting with you, okay. I lost my mom that way. And my parents would yell everyday too and I had to listen to that and listen to my mom crying afterwards and I promised myself that when I had children I would _never_ put them in a position where they would _ever_ have to hear that. And sure it happened a lot sooner then I had expected, but I still want the same thing. I want this baby to have a happy home life where both parents love him and love each other. And I'm sorry, Nathan, but you cannot give us that. And if I have to do this on my own, I will and I will love our son enough for the both of us, but I will not make him listen this. It hurts to lose a parent, we both know that. I don't want this baby to feel that at such a young age, like we did."

At that moment they heard Nathan's dad call out, "Nathan!"

Brooke quickly wiped her eyes due to her crying and Nathan shook his head hoping to shake away his tear, but Brooke saw one single tear slide down his face. Dan then entered the living room and saw Nathan sitting on the couch and Brooke standing in front of it.

"Miss Davis," said Dan happily holding out his arms for a hug. Dan had always loved Brooke and her parents. The Scotts and the Davis' had been close since Brooke moved in across the street from them, now over ten years ago. As far as Dan knew Brooke and Nathan were still together, he hadn't been in Tree Hill often since his divorce from Nathan's mom was finalized last May and at the time they were still together and going strong. Dan's job caused him to travel a lot and after talking with Nathan, Dan purchased a house in Charlotte, where he was currently living since it put him closer to work. However, Dan was visiting for Thanksgiving and would be spending it with Nathan of course.

"Hey, Mr. Scott," said Brooke mustering up the best smile she could after her conversation with Nathan and gave him a quick hug. Both then pulled away.

"How have you been, I hope my son has been treating you well," asked Dan and then noticed Brooke was wearing only one of Nathan's shirts, "And just for the time being, it would be nice if you could wear some pants, while I am around," finished Dan looking at Brooke and then towards Nathan both appearing embarrassed, Dan had always been like a second father to Brooke especially since she spent so much time there as a kid.

"Anyway, Nathan, how are you son?" asked Dan patting his shoulder.

"Good," replied Nathan.

"And basketball, how's that going?" asked Dan not knowing much about how the game was played.

"It's okay, we're doing pretty good," answered Nathan.

"He really is very good, Mr. Scott," said Brooke, despite their argument a few minutes ago, she couldn't help it, it was like a reflex. Nathan noticed this but assumed she was just being nice while his dad was around them.

"I knew you could do it, Nathan. You always were dedicated to it, even as a little kid," said Dan proudly as he stood up from the couch, "Well I'm gonna go freshen up and bring my luggage upstairs. I'll be down soon."

Once Dan was out of sight and they heard the door click, Nathan knew they would have to finish this conversation.

"I'm gonna go," whispered Brooke gathering her clothes and slipping on her pants, while still wearing Nathan's long shirt.

"Brooke, come on, you can't say something like that and then leave. We have to talk about this," said Nathan calmly.

Brooke simply reached for the hem of his shirt that she was wearing.

"Brooke," said Nathan placing his hand over hers to stop her from pulling off her shirt to change, "just stay."

"Why? Can you even give me one legitimate reason why I should stay?" asked an exhausted Brooke.

"Because, you bite your lip when you're nervous, because you laugh ridiculously loud at a joke you heard five minutes ago, because you're going to be an amazing mother, and because you are the most forgiving person I know, which I hope will work out in my favor today," began Nathan with a smile at last remark, which caused Brooke to smile back, "and because I'm sorry and because," he paused taking in a long breath preparing to put himself out there, "and because I still love you, Brooke."

Brooke looked down biting her lip, ironically, after his confession. She then looked up at Nathan unsure if he had really just said that, but looking into his eyes she saw the same vulnerability in them as the first and only time before this that he had told her he loved her the day before she left for the summer.

"I love you, too," said Brooke with tears streaming down her face as Nathan smiled and took a step towards her to kiss her. It was short and sweet, as Brooke pulled away.

"But, I still have to go," said Brooke quietly and quickly ran towards his front door.

"Brooke! Brooke!" pleaded Nathan as he took off after her, but once he reached the doorway he saw Lucas' car parked waiting for Brooke.

"Brooke, please," said Nathan looking hurt and vulnerable once again.

"I'm sorry," cried Brooke as she ran down the driveway.

Nathan turned around looking defeated and saw Dan standing at the top of the staircase.

"How much did you hea-?" started Nathan.

"Enough," interrupted Dan softly, "now go get her!" instructed Dan firmly, throwing Nathan his car keys with a smile. Nathan caught the keys and said,

"I don't know Dad. I just can't give her what she needs right now."

"Nathan, you've loved that girl since you were ten!" stated Dan firmly pointing towards the door she ran out of just minutes before, "now go get her, before you lose her for good…and your child."

"You heard that?" asked Nathan.

"I heard. Do you wanna know what I think?" asked Dan.

"Not really. I love ya, Dad, but it wouldn't change anything. I love Brooke and our son and it doesn't matter what you think or anybody else thinks because it's not gonna change the way I feel. I would give my life for them and I'm going to do whatever it takes to give Brooke and our son the life they deserve. I- God, I need to find her," finished Nathan, turning around quickly, only to see Brooke standing in his doorway with her clothes still in her hands and tears in her eyes.

"Because I still love you," said Brooke gently, quoting him for earlier, in her simply explanation for coming back. Nathan slowly walked over to Brooke and once he was standing in front of her, he kissed her passionately in the doorway.

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**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND IT HELPS ME DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE STORY :)**

A/N: Just want to clarify a few things in case there is confusion. If you still have any questions feel free to ask.

1.) Brooke is about five months pregnant. 2.) Nathan's mom, Deb, did **not** die. Brooke's mother and Deb were best friends and when Brooke's mom died 3 years ago, Deb threw herself into her work and was never the same, therefore Nathan lost a parent through that and the divorce. 3.) Dan is very nice in this story. 4.) Everyone at school now knows Brooke is pregnant. 5.) Kaitlyn is supposed to leave at the end of the semester, which is just after the winter holidays. 6.) Brooke says she lost her mom that way, in her explanation for not liking to fight with Nathan. How her mom died will be revealed in the Thanksgiving chapter.


	14. The Good Stuff

**Thank you all so much for the reviews, keep them coming :P**

A/N: The new promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes is posted on my youtube account under the username Ally9292. Another reminder that you can STILL access the original promo.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Chapter 11 - The Good Stuff

Thanksgiving morning. Thanksgiving was always one of Brooke's favorite holidays. Ever since she had moved to Tree Hill it was always celebrated at the Scott's House.

The guests were the Scotts of course including Nathan's grandparents and Uncle Cooper, Brooke and her two parents and finally Peyton and her mother. Nathan, Brooke and Peyton would always play outside or Brooke would occasionally help their moms in the kitchen. It was always a really fun day. It felt like one big family. Now 11 years after their first Thanksgiving all together, Brooke was sitting on the front steps of Nathan's house with a big blanket around her waiting to watch the sunrise. It was something she did every Thanksgiving morning as a kid. She looked across the street and saw her old house, the house that held nearly all of her childhood memories and she shed a few tears.

She then felt the presence of someone behind her and didn't need to turn to know it was him. Nathan then quietly sat next to her and offered her a cup of hot chocolate. Brooke wasn't sure if he would remember or if Nathan still even did this on Thanksgiving morning. The two of them would always come out of their houses early on Thanksgiving and each watch the sunrise, occasionally stealing glances at each other from across the street. The two sat in silence for a few minutes watching the sky before Brooke spoke.

"Did you ever think we'd end up here, you and me?" questioned Brooke curiously still looking up at the sky. She wanted to know what he really thought about their whole situation.

"I hoped for it," said Nathan simply with a smile also still looking at the sky.

Brooke smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as they both watched the sunrise together, just as they did as seven year old kids. The sun was now beginning to rise, casting an orange glow across the block.

"I really miss her," said Brooke, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"I know, Brooke," said Nathan softly, "so do I, but you still have memories of your mom."

Brooke just nodded her head with a few tears streaming down her face.

"Tell me about her," spoke Nathan gently, "what's one of your favorite memories of you and your mom?"

Brooke took a deep breathe and began, "I remember I was fifteen," she started and then swallowed slowly trying to keep her tears at bay, "we were at a bridal shop with my Aunt Kirsten, do you remember her?"

"Yeah," spoke Nathan gently, encouraging her to continue.

"Well, my aunt was trying on all these dresses, like it must have been at least a hundred," said Brooke laughing slightly through her tears and Nathan laughed too, "anyway me and my mom started looked at some of the dresses too. She told me about how we would do this at my wedding and how incredibly picky I would also be," stated Brooke causing them both to laugh again, "And she said it would be the best day of my life and the best day of hers, to witness me getting married. At the time I was with Lucas and my mom knew that, but still she pointed to this one dress that I had said I loved and she said, 'One day your going to wear this dress and walking down that aisle you'll look up and see be Nathan and we both know it'." Cried Brooke. Nathan always knew Brooke's mom joked about the idea of Brooke and Nathan together all the time, but he never thought she meant it. Nathan had always wanted to be with Brooke, but never wanted to risk the great friendship they shared.

"She died the next the day, Nathan," said Brooke now sobbing, "She's not gonna ever see me get married. She never got to see us eventually get together. She's not gonna see her grandson. That day when she said that to me I just laughed, I laughed, what kind of person does that make me, Nathan?" questioned Brooke in tears.

"Brooke, you can't dwell on your reaction to that. You were fifteen," said Nathan trying to comfort her, but also feeling hurt that she laughed at the thought of them ever getting married.

"But I shouldn't have laughed. Yeah, I was young, but I knew that I wanted to be with you, maybe not forever, but at least dating. I don't know, sometimes I wish I had told her that, so she would've known," finished Brooke with a sad smile and her tears subsiding.

"I'm sure she knew, Brooke," said Nathan softly, "and when you were fifteen you were into me?" asked Nathan playfully hoping to lighten the mood and now happy that she hadn't meant to laugh.

Brooke looked up at him with a smile and shook her head disbelievingly still teary-eyed,

"Thank you. I needed this," said Brooke sincerely as the sun was now completely out and shining across her face, "and…of course I was," said Brooke biting her bottom lip, but looking right into Nathan's eyes. Nathan smiled and leaned in to give her a soft kiss, mumbling, "No, thank you," against her lips.

The two then sat in silence for a few more minutes with Brooke leaning against Nathan and the blanket covering them both. Nathan looked out across the street and saw Brooke's old house, his eyes stopped on the front steps and he pictured a seven year old Brooke sitting watching the sunrise with a blanket around her and sending Nathan a small, tired smile. Nathan now looked back down at Brooke in his arms and smiled at the memory.

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It was now 11am and Dan had already talked to Nathan and Brooke. The two of them told him everything and he was to their surprise extremely supportive. Nathan's grandparents had arrived about 20 minutes later and Brooke, Nathan and Dan decided it would be best to wait until dinner to tell them the news. Nathan's grandma was in the kitchen cooking. Brooke was now upstairs getting ready and Nathan was downstairs already dressed and watching the football game on the couch with his dad and grandpa. Football had always been really big in his family. Dan played football and was the star player, but he never let it get to his head. Nathan's grandpa however was still disappointed Nathan had chosen to pursue basketball instead. Nathan then heard knocking on the door and got up to answer it. He figured it would probably be Peyton and her mom. He and Peyton were now talking but she still was angry with him about the whole situation with Brooke. Peyton was the five time award winner of "The Golden Grudge." She never forgot anything, but even she had to admit she felt a bit of remorse for treating Brooke so badly not knowing all the information for leaving. Nathan then opened the door and was surprised when he was met with his Uncle Cooper. Cooper was his mom's brother and Nathan assumed since his mom wouldn't be there, neither would Cooper – he assumed wrong.

"Uncle Cooper," said Nathan happily clapping his hand which turned into a hug.

"Hey, Nate. Happy Thanksgiving. What's going on, man?" greeted Cooper.

"Oh you know not much," said Nathan.

"Uncle Cooper!!" yelled Brooke excitedly from the top of the stairs and ran down into his arms for a hug.

"Brooke Davis," replied Cooper with a wide smile while hugging Brooke, Cooper looked over her shoulder at Nathan and mouthed, "She looks hot," with a wink. Nathan then realized Cooper didn't know him and Brooke were together. Cooper missed last Thanksgiving due to a race, when Brooke and Nathan were together and the year before that Brooke and Nathan didn't get together until a few weeks after Thanksgiving.

He was right though, Brooke looked gorgeous, she wore her long brunette hair in soft curls with a thin headband, dividing her side-bangs from the rest of her hair. She was wearing a fitted green scoop-neck sweater, matching her glistening eyes and a flowy cream-colored skirt.

_She wasn't lying when she said she knew how to hide her pregnancy well she looks just as thin as ever,_ thought Nathan.

They both pulled away and Brooke smiled, "So how have you been? I haven't seen you in like what, 3 years now?"

"Just 2 Brooke, I guess you're still doing really well in Math class huh?" he joked with a laugh.

"Shut up," said Brooke playfully shoving him.

"But, yeah I've been good, just looking for a hot new girl," he said winking at Brooke. Nathan had had enough so he spoke up,

"You know let's all go in the living room," suggested Nathan.

Cooper and Nathan began walking out of the foyer when Brooke said,

"I'm gonna see if your grandma needs any help, but I'll meet you two in there."

"Sounds good," said Cooper walking into the living room and greeting Dan and Nathan's grandpa, Royal.

Nathan however stayed in the foyer and pulled Brooke off to the side.

"What's up?" asked Brooke wondering why he had stayed behind.

Nathan kissed her and then spoke, "You look amazing."

Brooke blushed, Nathan was the only one who could ever make Brooke blush. She flirted with the best of them and none of those guys could ever make her blush.

"Thanks," she said quietly, "I know you said not to do anything to hide it, but I thought since your grandparents don't know…" trailed off Brooke.

"It's fine, as long as you know I think you look beautiful both ways," said Nathan sincerely and kissed her softly.

"I'm gonna go see if your grandma needs help, I'll meet you in the family room," said Brooke with a smile.

Nathan then walked back into the living room to find Dan, Cooper and his grandpa still watching the football game so he took a seat in one of the arm chairs.

"So Nate, Brooke's looking pretty hot now, she sure grew up over those 2 years. She seeing anyone?" questioned Cooper.

Nathan was surprised in himself that he had put up with Cooper's comments even for the first five minutes he had been here without saying the_ he_ was seeing Brooke.

"Yeah, me" said Nathan calmly.

"Oh. I'm sorry, man. Why didn't you say anything?" asked Cooper feeling awful for flirting with Brooke.

"I just did. So can your 'comments' stop now?" said Nathan jokingly with a laugh but still firm enough to let him know he meant it.

"Yeah, man," laughed Cooper giving him a fist bump.

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Nathan was still watching the game and began to wonder what was taking Brooke so long. She had said she would help his grandma and then come into the living room.

"Be right back," said Nathan to the three of them who weren't paying much attention since they were engrossed in the game, as he heading off towards the kitchen.

Nathan stopped once he got to the doorway, seeing Brooke laughing with his grandma and helping with the desserts.

"Hi," said Nathan coming up behind Brooke and wrapping his arms around her to kiss her and then sticking his finger into homemade filling for the pumpkin pie placed in front of her to steal some of it which Brooke had just made with the help of his grandma.

"Hey!" yelled his grandma lightly hitting Nathan's hand with the wooden spoon, turning around just in time to witness him reaching into the filling, which caused him to pull his hand back quickly, "we just worked very hard on that," scolded his grandma. This caused Brooke to stifle a laugh, when Nathan was hit by the spoon.

"Sorry Grams, geeze," said Nathan with a laugh, "I hope Brooke isn't ruining our dinner in here," he joked still laughing, earning a small shove from Brooke.

"Stop it, she is doing a wonderful job, Nathan," said his grandma with a smile.

"Thank you," said Brooke with a smile.

Suddenly all the smells in the kitchen caused her to feel sick.

"I'm sorry, excuse me, I'm just going to go to the bathroom," said Brooke as she quickly walked out of the kitchen.

"Me too. Be right back, Grams," said Nathan knowing Brooke was sick and quickly going upstairs also knowing she would want to be away from where people could possibly hear her.

"Brooke," said Nathan softly, as she knocked on the door, his response was the sound of her coughing and then the toilet flushing, so he walked in, to again find her sitting on the floor beside the toilet.

"Do you feel better?" asked a concerned Nathan.

"Yeah, shouldn't this have stopped by now, I mean it's been five months," said Brooke sounding exhausted.

"I'm sorry," said Nathan sincerely feeling bad she has to go through this, "Do you wanna go back downstairs?"

"Yeah, I have to finish helping your grandma," said Brooke cheerfully now in a better mood standing up from off the floor.

"Brooke, if you feel sick you don't have to do that I'm sure she would understand," he reasoned.

"No I want to. Plus I like being around your grandma, my mom always liked her and they talked a lot, so your grandma tells me stuff about my mom," said Brooke with a sad smile as she they began to walk down the stairs.

"Okay," said Nathan understandingly, "I love you," finished Nathan as they reached the bottom of the stairs giving her a soft kiss.

_I'm never gonna get tired of hearing him say that,_ thought Brooke with a smile.

Once they both pulled away Brooke replied, "I love you, too," as she headed towards the kitchen.

Nathan walked into the living room to see Ms. Sawyer sitting on the couch he then noticed he didn't see Peyton. And realized she may have been in the kitchen – with Brooke.

"Hi, Nathan, how are you? I haven't seen you around the house lately," asked Ms. Sawyer.

"Oh, I'm good, how are you?" questioned Nathan politely, but in his mind wondering how Brooke and Peyton were doing with each other in the same room.

"I've been really well," she replied.

"Can you excuse me, I'm just gonna be check on my grandma," said Nathan pointing over his shoulder towards the kitchen.

When Brooke had entered the kitchen she saw Nathan's grandma talking and laughing with Peyton. She felt so hurt at their words and immediately turned around to head back upstairs, just to get away from it all to compose herself, before facing everyone.

Nathan walked into the kitchen and found his grandma cooking and laughing while Peyton sat on the countertop laughing along with her. He looked around but didn't see Brooke.

"Nathan, hey!" said Peyton happily while hopping off the counter to give him a hug.

"Happy Thanksgiving," she said once they pulled away.

"You two are just so cute, together" said Nathan's grandma with a smile.

Peyton just smiled at this and Nathan didn't know what to say. Peyton was practically his sister, therefore he didn't want to think about the idea of them together anymore.

"Uh, Happy Thanksgiving to you too," he replied uncomfortably to Peyton, "I'll just leave you two to it," finished Nathan as he walked out of the kitchen heading upstairs in hopes of finding Brooke.

Nathan was walking down the hallway towards Brooke's room when he heard crying coming from his room. And he walked in knowing it would be Brooke.

"Are you okay?" asked Nathan opening the door to find Brooke sitting on his bed crying and clutching an old purple monkey.

Nathan sat beside her on his bed and hugged her.

"She told Peyton, that she always knew you guys would be together," sobbed Brooke.

"What?" asked Nathan confused.

Brooke sniffled and tried to calm down before speaking again.

"I was gonna go back into the kitchen to finish helping your grandma and when I got there I saw her and Peyton laughing and joking around. Then I heard your grandma tell Peyton that she always knew you and Peyton would be together. She said that she liked me, but that I was just your bubbly high school girlfriend and she wouldn't want me in her family or for me to have your children, she would rather have Peyton," cried Brooke, sobbing again as she said 'children', "Nathan, I am having your child, how are I supposed to tell her that, now? She doesn't want that. She's gonna hate me,"

"Hey, forget about it okay. She doesn't hate you and _we_ are gonna tell her your pregnant at dinner, _together_," comforted Nathan.

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Everyone had just finished dinner and was sitting around talking about current events and their lives and community, but also reminiscing about the past. Each year everyone would always sit in the same seats. Dan at the head of the table, with Deb next to him, starting the left side of the table, followed by, Nathan, Peyton, Brooke and Cooper. The right side of the table sat Nathan's two grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Davis and finally Ms. Sawyer. However, as their group lost more and more people everyone would move down a seat to adjust. Today there were now only four people on one side of the table and three on the other. Brooke got an eerie feeling each time her eyes settled on the seat directly across from her that was previously occupied by her mom. Ms. Sawyer was now sitting there and the pain Brooke felt then was immense. This was only her second Thanksgiving without her mom and now her first without her dad being there. He had claimed that he couldn't leave work and sent her a text this evening reading: happy thanksgiving. Brooke knew the real reason was that he couldn't face everyone without her mom. Last year Brooke's dad had sat in her mom's seat making Brooke feel a bit at ease that her mom had not been replaced, but she could see that he was hurting just as much as her. Brooke then focused her attention back to the conversation at hand and realized someone had talked to her,

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Brooke quietly.

"I was just wondering if you're okay. I heard about your mom and I just wanna say I'm really sorry Brooke, I know how hard it is to have a parent pass away. And if I learned anything these last several years it's that you gotta let people help you, you know. Let Nathan help you through this, I know he wants to," said Cooper sincerely.

"Thanks," she said with a small smile and tears forming behind her eyes.

"So Nathan how's life going son? Big game coming up right? Anything new?" asked Royal, his grandfather.

Nathan knew that this was the perfect opportunity to tell them the pregnancy, but he needed a few moments to gather himself.

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**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND IT HELPS ME DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE STORY :)**


	15. In A Small Town

A/N: I know I'm terrible, it's been forever since I updated, but with finals and the holidays it's been so crazy. I hope you all like it and review. I finally had some free time this weekend so I wrote a few chapters, so if I get enough reviews I may update again this weekend. =) ENJOY!

Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at .com/watch?v=K5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 12 – In A Small Town

"Um actually yeah," began Nathan trying desperately to appear calm, as he looked over at Brooke.

"Well then, on with it. You look so serious, Nathan, it's not as if your mother just died," joked his grandpa.

"I'm sorry, excuse me," said Brooke as she stood up from the table and ran quickly into the kitchen, which was the closest room.

"Um, Dad, may I be-" began Nathan quietly.

"Yes, go on" interrupted Dan softly.

Nathan stood up and went after Brooke. He reached the kitchen and saw her leaning against over the sink, looking out the window directly above it and taking deep, slow breaths. Nathan closed the kitchen door behind him so that no one could hear them. Brooke could feel that Nathan was standing behide her and she turned around slowly with tears streaming down her face.

"I didn't think it would be this hard. I tried all day to just smile and bear through it, but Nathan, I miss her so much. I just want her back!" cried Brooke again, "it should have been me. I was fighting with her in the car and she didn't see another car coming," said Brooke crying and upset, Nathan then took her into his arms.

"Brooke, I know what happened and it wasn't your fault. And I'm so sorry about my grandpa," said Nathan, letting her know that she wasn't to blame. Then suddenly it was as if a light bulb went off in his head '_and the reason I leave is because I don't like fighting with you, okay. I lost my mom that way._' Nathan recalled Brooke saying this yesterday in their fight. _Brooke doesn't like to fight because she was yelling at her mom causing the fatal accident_, thought Nathan.

"Yes, it was. I wanted to go to Lucas' _stupid_ party that night and my mom said I couldn't. If I had just said okay instead of fighting about it, she would still be here," said Brooke sobbing.

"Brooke, it's not your fault," he said again and Brooke opening her mouth to protest but Nathan continued, "No, listen to me. This is not your fault. That car that hit you, ran the light and there was no way your mom could have avoided it even if she was paying attention to the road. Trust me, this is not something you want to carry with you for the rest of your life. Do you trust me?" asked Nathan now speaking a bit more gently.

Brooke nodded her head with tears running down her face and Nathan continued,

"You're gonna be a mother soon, too. I don't want you to hold yourself accountable for your mom's death, Brooke. And I also need you to know that we can have an argument and still love each other. Don't be afraid to get angry. You have every right to be mad right now, it's Thanksgiving and your mom can't here with you today," finished Nathan genuinely.

"I love you so much," cried Brooke kissing him with everything she had left in her.

"I love you, too," finished Nathan kissing her again.

"Are you ready to go back in there?" asked Nathan softly.

Brooke wiped her eyes and then nodded her head while entwining her hand with Nathan's and offering him a small smile.

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Meanwhile, conversation continued normally at the dining room table. Cooper looked over at Peyton who sat two seats down from him. _She seems nice, but there's something missing. Why would they want Nathan with her instead of Brooke,_ thought Cooper.

"So that was awkward," stated Cooper.

"Yeah, just a little," said Peyton sarcastically with a laugh and Cooper joined in.

"Your kinda funny," said Cooper with a smile.

"Story of my life," said Peyton aggravated, receiving a confused look from Cooper causing her to explain,

"Everyone always says Brooke's hot and Peyton's funny," explained Peyton, "I mean I've known you my entire life and this is pretty much the first time we've had a conversation alone. And how long have you known Brooke and how times have you two talked? Don't deny it, you think she's hot, everyone does, I actually thought you guys would hookup and judging by the way you were checking her out all through dinner you still want to. And me? I'm just the funny friend."

After Peyton finished talking Cooper considered what she had just said. He definitely thought Brooke was hot. It was obvious, just everything about her, she was gorgeous and to top it all off had a great personality too. _Peyton's good looking. Her look is completely different though,_ thought Cooper.

Peyton wore her blonde hair short, about ear length and straight. She was wearing a fitted red turtleneck, black skinny jeans and her signature converse shoes. As opposed to Brooke, who wore her long brunette hair in soft curls with a thin headband, dividing her side-bangs from the rest of her hair. She was wearing a fitted green scoop-neck sweater, matching her glistening eyes and a flowy cream-colored skirt.

"Well, you just never seemed interested in talking to me and Brooke did, so I guess we grew closer," started Cooper, "plus you were always too busy trying to hookup with my nephew," joked Cooper with a laugh.

"Yeah, well you can see how well that turned out," began Peyton motioning to Nathan and Brooke as they entered the room hand in hand, "not only did I not get Nathan, but I was also replaced by Kaitlyn as their best friend."

"Are you ready for this?" asked Nathan quietly.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready, but we have to tell them," whispered Brooke.

The two of them sat down joining everyone at the table. There were a few separate conversations going on and Nathan was surprised to see Cooper and Peyton talking and sitting next to each other, which was helpful since Nathan and Brooke could sit next to each other.

"Brooke, I'm so very sorry. I didn't mean to say that," apologized Royal.

"It's ok," said Brooke, still a bit shaken, "really, I'm fine now," she finished with a small smile.

"Good because we do like you a great deal," he replied sincerely with a small, "so Nathan, how about that news you were going to tell me?"

Nathan then looked at Brooke as he squeezed their still intertwined hands under the table before he began, "Well, you all know that Brooke and I have been dating for a few years now and… I love her very much."

Brooke smiled at Nathan as he spoke his last phrase, she absolutely loved hearing him say that he loved her. The majority of the table smiled and 'aw'ed.

"I also love Nathan and he is always there for me. And all of you have been so supportive after I lost my mom…" trailed Brooke as she teared up, she and Nathan had agreed that Brooke would be the one to actually use the word 'pregnant' but she wasn't entirely sure she could do this anymore.

Nathan then pulled Brooke closer to him to comfort her, as he decided to just be the one to tell them.

"What's going on?" asked Nathan's grandma in a worried tone.

"Brooke's pregnant and I'm very happy about it and we thought it was best to tell you all tonight," said Nathan confidently, as Brooke squeezed him hand again.

Royal and Mae began to laugh, but when met with silence they both knew this Nathan was being serious, Royal then spoke in anger.

"Nathan this is absurd! How can you possibly be happy about this?!"

"Royal, calm down I'm sure Nathan is bringing Brooke to take care of this, right Nathan?" questioned his grandmother.

Nathan looked at his grandma with such hatred and disappointment that she would even suggest he do such a thing.

"Dan?" said Nathan's grandma once she saw Nathan's response, "Dan, you have to do something about this."

"Mother, Nathan is eighteen and he can do whatever he pleases. I also happen to support both him and Brooke," said Dan firmly.

"Mrs. Scott, I do love your grandson and we-" began Brooke with a very shaky voice, threatening to break into tears at any moment, only to be interrupted.

"You need to be quiet, this doesn't concern you. This is a family matter," said Mae in a very stern voice.

"Grandma!" yelled a very angry Nathan.

"Nathan, you are a child, how can children raise children. In fact _she_ is only seventeen which would make her a minor," she replied.

"I don't care how angry you are, you have no right to speak to Brooke that way! Brooke _is_ my family and you better get used to it because she's not going anywhere, anytime soon," shouted Nathan.

The table then filled with silence for a few moments as Nathan's grandma left the table, then Cooper spoke up as he placed a hand on Nathan's shoulder,

"Look, the situation may not be ideal at their age, but they love each other so I think we should be happy for them."

"Thanks man," replied Nathan as he tried to calm down from his heated argument.

Royal took a deep breathe before speaking, "I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I was, well I was shocked. It's going to take me a little while to get there, but I…I will be happy for you two. I mean if this was going to happen, I'm glad it was Brooke. You've seemed to be a part of my family for so long, it won't be a long stretch to actually welcome you into the family."

"Thank you," said Brooke with tears streaming down her face.

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It was now midnight and the Scott Household was getting ready to go to sleep. Nathan's grandparents had there own permanent spare room in the house that they were currently in, Cooper decided to crash on the couch, and Dan, Nathan, and Brooke were sitting in the family room.

"Dad, I think we're gonna go to bed too," said Nathan as he looked over at Brooke curled up in the armchair with a blanket around her as she looked out the window with her puffy, red eyes at her childhood home.

"Alright, goodnight son," said Dan, as he placed a hand on his shoulder before walking passed him towards the stairs.

Nathan walked over to Brooke and bent down to be face to face with her,

"Brooke, come on everyone's sleeping I don't want you down here alone."

"She hates me," said Brooke softly with tears in her eyes, as she looked from the window to Nathan.

"Brooke, I'm so sorry. I never thought my grandma would react that badly," he said sincerely.

Brooke nodded her head as a few tears escaped, "I can see it her eyes, your grandma used to like me and ever since my mom died, it seems like she can't even look at me. She knows it too, she knows it was my fault, everyone always tells me it wasn't, but her and I both know it was."

"Brooke, that was not your fault. You need some sleep, it's not good for the baby for you to be this stressed, okay," said Nathan caringly.

They both went up the stairs and Nathan went with Brooke into her room, even he had noticed that maybe he was being a little overprotective. But, hey, she was the girl he loved and pregnant so he felt it was justified.

"Okay, I'll see you morning. Please don't stay up worried, you need your sleep."

"Can you sleep with me tonight?" asked Brooke softly.

Nathan smirked at her choose of words.

"Just sleep," she added with blush creeping up her face, "I really don't want to be alone."

"Of course I will," he answered, as Brooke smiled and took out Nathan's Duke shirt, he had given her yesterday. When Brooke turned back around she saw Nathan trying to get comfortable in the big lounge chair in the corner of her room. He had taken his shoes, polo, and dress pants off, leaving him in a white undershirt and his boxers. They had only just got back together and hadn't discussed their physical relationship yet. Yes, they had established that they loved each other, but Nathan didn't want to ruin a good thing. He didn't want to push her.

"You know, I feel just as alone with you all the way over there as I would if you were in your room," said Brooke with a shy smile as she laid in bed. Nathan smiled back as he walked over to her and laid down beside her. He still didn't want to push anything so he laid on his back while Brooke was on her side facing away from him. Brooke could feel Nathan's nervousness as he lay beside her, which she was definitely not used to from Nathan. In an attempt to calm him she reached for his hand and placed it softly on her stomach and Nathan turned so that her back was against his chest. Nathan was pleasantly surprised when he felt her small warm hand take his and place it near their baby.

"Not that slow," said Brooke softly as she turned to his him, referring to how she wanted to take their relationship 'slow' now that they were back together.

"Thank god," said Nathan huskily as he gave her a soft kiss, which Brooke smiled against.

"See, you're making me feel better already. Just knowing you're here, having you here, I don't think you know how much it means to me," whispered Brooke.

"I love you," said Nathan softly as he held her tight and they drifted off to sleep.

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**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND IT HELPS ME DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE STORY :)**


	16. Never Gonna Feel Like That Again

Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at .com/watch?v=K5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 13 – Never Gonna Feel Like That Again

Brooke woke to the sun streaming ever so lightly through the curtains of Nathan's former bedroom. She couldn't help but feel the sense of comfort that came from his surroundings, his bed, his posters, his scent – him. Brooke looked up to see Nathan, still fast asleep with a small smile on his face. He seemed so peaceful and she loved the feeling of being in his arms. She tried to stay completely still not wanting the moment to end, but she started to see Nathan stirring and he opened his eyes.

"Morning," said Brooke softly.

"Mmhm," mumbled Nathan in reply as he closed his eyes again and pulled Brooke closer to him causing Brooke to smile.

"Breakfast!" yelled Dan from the bottom of the staircase.

Brooke made an attempt to move when Nathan pulled her back gently, "Stay."

"Nathan, your dad's calling," said Brooke with a small laugh, "we should go downstairs."

"I already have everything I need right here," he said as he opened his eyes fully and looked right into her hazel ones, "you're really beautiful, you know that."

Brooke smiled and then looked away from his eyes as her cheeks warmed, "I love you." Nathan then moved in to kiss her when they heard,

"Nathan, I'm not gonna call you again! Breakfast!" shouted Dan, for what was apparently the 3rd time.

"I guess we should…" trailed Nathan.

"Yeah," said a disappointed Brooke as she moved to get out of bed.

"Hey," he said softly causing Brooke to turn back towards him, "come here," Nathan continued, as he pulled Brooke in for a light kiss, "I love you, too."

Brooke smiled widely as she reached for the black sweatpants at on the floor, deciding that wearing an oversized shirt to breakfast was probably not the best idea. Nathan looked over and saw her doing so,

"Good call," he said with a laugh as Brooke joined him, "Now let's eat."

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The breakfast table was unusually silent in the Scott house. Normally every Thanksgiving everyone would sleep at the Scott's and then Lydia and Deb would make the annual Breakfast Extravaganza. However, in the past two years, due to their absence Dan had found a small breakfast restaurant in town to provide for them all.

"So how did everyone sleep?" asked Dan, trying to start up a conversation.

There were various grunts and mumbles followed by, "Great!" which came from Peyton who had spent the night at her own house and came back in the morning for breakfast.

"Well, I was thinking that the girls can go shopping today because of that whole black Friday, sales thing. And the four of us can go to the football game," suggested Dan.

Brooke fidgeted nervously as she waited in anticipation to see if she would have to spend the day with Peyton and Nathan's grandma. After hearing Dan's proposal, Nathan looked to Brooke, hoping to see some kind of sign of whether she felt comfortable spending the day with his grandma and Peyton. He really did want to go see Carolina. His dad and grandpa loved the game so he grew up with it, basketball was something he had started on his own. However, he saw Brooke looking down and fiddling with her hands.

"I don't know Dad, we kind of had plans for today," replied Nathan as he motioned to himself and Brooke, "we were gonna hang with Tim and I promised Kaitlyn I'd pick her up from the airport."

Brooke smiled at how well Nathan treated her friends, but she also knew he was fishing for excuses on account of her, because they didn't have plans with Tim and Kaitlyn didn't get in until very late tonight.

"Well, you apparently have 'your whole life' to _hang _with Brooke, so why don't go with Cooper, your grandfather, and your father since all of them are not here on a daily basis, Nathan," said Mae, in a chipper voice, yet her body language suggested everything to the contrary, "And I'll take Brooke."

Nathan opened his mouth to counter his grandmother, when he caught Dan's eye, warning him to keep his temper in check.

"You should go. I can pick Katie up myself and you should spend some time with your family," said Brooke softly with a smile.

Nathan looked at her closely to see if she really meant it – she did, but he could tell even though Brooke did mean her words she didn't want to say them.

"Then it's settled, we'll drive up there for the game," said Royal happily.

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"Brooke, I know yesterday was kind of hard on you, are you sure you want to go? I mean we can just stay here, relax, just you and me," said Nathan sweetly.

"I'm fine Nathan, really, I promise….Hey, absence makes the heart grow fonder," she said lightly with a laugh.

"Alright, last chance. You and me, alllll alone, in this huge house, with many, many bedrooms," said Nathan so closely that she could feel his warm breathe on her neck. Brooke fought to not give in to temptation,

"Good point, you know I am kinda tired," she finally answered with a playful smile, knowing that sleeping was not at all what he had been implying.

"Alright, Brooke Davis, I'm trusting you that you won't go all gung-ho on Peyton and that you and my grandma won't bitch it out, okay," he joked with a laugh, "but seriously, please be careful, I mean I know you can take care of yourself, but it makes me nervous."

"Nathan, you know I love you, but you worry too much," replied Brooke with a quick kiss as she grabbed her jacket off the banister, ready to leave for the malls.

"I love you," Nathan said taking her hand in his to give it a soft kiss.

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The car ride to the mall was fairly quiet, Peyton had decided that she would drive, after Nathan insisted that Brooke not drive. So here they were, Nathan's grandma was shotgun and Brooke was sitting in the back alone. Brooke had always liked his grandma and she for the most part liked her in return. Mae was extremely close to Lydia, Brooke's mom, so she naturally loved Brooke. Brooke thought that since she cared about her she should at least put in the effort to get back on track.

"So what stores were you two thinking of?" asked Brooke, breaking the silence.

"Nothing you would be interested in, dear," answered Mae, with her perfected fake smile.

Peyton chuckled lowly at the interaction between the two. She had to admit it felt good, knowing that not everyone (Nathan) chose Brooke over her.

Brooke swallowed slowly, in the back seat trying her hardest to not cry. She had promised herself that they would not make her cry today, but her emotions seemed to be all over the place lately. She spent the rest of the ride there in complete silence, not wanting to ask the 'wrong' question and say the 'wrong' thing.

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"It's gonna be a great day, I have my son, my Dad…Cooper," he said with a laugh as he hit him on the shoulder in a friendly manner, "you know I'm joking Coop, we all love you," he finished still laughing.

"Thanks, man," said Cooper with a laugh, "and it's cold out here. I don't know how you all live here, I'm freezing my ass off."

"I don't know about everyone else but this is how I live here," stated Dan, as he raised up his cup of beer, "Ah, the good old southern way of life," he finished as he took another gulp of his beer.

Cooper decided to get in line to get a beverage that could 'warm him up' and asked Nathan to come with for company.

"So what about you Nate? You gonna have a drink?" he asked nonchalantly, knowing that of course Nathan drank. Nathan, however shook his head.

"So if you're not drinking, which is extremely surprising by the way, what keeps you warm when it's freezing like this?" questioned Cooper curiously, he was very cold and any suggestion was definitely welcome.

Nathan thought about it for a moment, he then realized he hadn't had a drink since he found out about the pregnancy. It wasn't even a conscious decision, he just didn't feel the want or need to do so. He then answered, with this realization, in a voice that expressed that feeling, "Brooke."

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Peyton and Nathan's grandma were walking ahead of Brooke as she trailed behind trying to keep up with them. Brooke was now five months pregnant and it was beginning to really take a toll of her speed. Peyton and Mae were going in and out of stores fairly quickly and Brooke was becoming very tired. It didn't help that today was the busiest shopping day of the year. Throughout the day all Brooke heard were their snide comments. People were everywhere, pushing and shoving, and it was hard to keep track of people who wanted to be with you, much less to keep track of two people who seemed to be trying to loose you in the crowd. Brooke suddenly left a sharp pain and bent over in agony. She stepped to the side still bent over and sat down on the bench. Brooke was hoping the pain would go away, but it didn't seem to be improving. She knew that Nathan was still at the game and she didn't want to bother him over something that may not even be anything. So Brooke did what she was best at, she stood up and worked through the pain. Brooke was almost positive that there was no way she would find Peyton and Mae. When she had sat down, they continued and never looked back. Brooke was now sitting down again on one of the benches outside of the NBA store, which had it's grand opening today so it was packed with people. Suddenly Lucas appeared next to her on the bench.

"Hey," exclaimed Lucas.

Brooke tried her best to smile back at him, to show him some sign of acknowledgement, since she could barely talk.

"So what are you doing here alone? Mall plus Brooke Davis usually equals party/shopping spree," joked Lucas lightly, as he nudged her. He then saw her wince and for a second the smile she was faking, slipped and the pain she was in shown through.

"Brooke, are you okay?" he asked concerned.

Brooke simply shook her head no, as tears started to form behind her eyes.

"Well, um, I, uh, on Wednesday…there was this rumor going around about you. Well you and Nathan. I didn't believe it when I heard it but seeing you now, I have to ask,…are you pregnant, Brooke?" questioned Lucas, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Brooke nodded her head in response as she started to cry.

"Is that why you're in pain?" asked Lucas carefully and uncomfortably, "I mean, like is it the baby?"

"Yes," she said still crying and in pain.

"Let's get you to the hospital, okay. I don't wanna risk anything. Nathan would have my head on a platter if anything happened to you or his baby," stated Lucas as he began to stand.

"No," said Brooke weakly, as she reached to stop him from getting up, "please just stay here with me."

Lucas looked at Brooke crying and in pain and couldn't help, but give in to her.

_Brooke's pregnant_, thought Lucas sadly. He was angry and sad at the same time. When he had first heard that rumor at school, it wouldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it, he simply didn't want to, because he wanted so badly for it to be just that – a rumor. But it was fact. Brooke and Nathan were having a baby.

When Lucas' mind came back into focus he saw that about 15 minutes had passed and Brooke didn't seem to be recovering.

"Brooke, I really think you need to go to hospital. This can't be good. Let's go," said Lucas as stood and placed both his hands out to help her up for her spot and to his car in the parking garage.

"Do you want to call Nathan or should I?" he asked while driving quickly down the streets.

"No…no, he's," started but Brooke stopped short when the pain overcame her for a few moments, "he's at… the football game."

Lucas looked at Brooke in a protective manner and handed his cell phone to Brooke, signaling that she _had_ to call.

Brooke dialed and waited for Nathan's voice to appear on the other end. The phone that picked up and she could definitely hear the loud crowd that was at the game.

"Hello" said a female voice.

"Who is this?" asked Brooke, on the verge of breaking down.

"I'm Stacey. Who's this?" questioned the woman with a bubbly voice. She was giggling and obviously drunk.

"Stacey, who is that! Hey, hand me my phone," shouted Nathan over the cheering, drunken crowd.

Brooke just sat speechless in Lucas' car as she listened to the conversation she was hearing between her boyfriend and girl, mostly like from UNC, a college girl.

"Hello?" said Nathan into the phone. However, Brooke could still hear the giggling, which meant that girl was a little too close to him. So Brooke simply hung up on him, without a word.

By this time they were already at the hospital and Lucas looked over at Brooke, who was literally sobbing.

"Brooke, what happened?" he asked concerned.

"Can we just go in?" requested Brooke softly.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Don't move, I'm gonna come around to help you out, okay," said Lucas supportively.

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"Yo, Nate, who was it?" asked Cooper.

"I don't know. I'm gonna go up and check it. Oh, and maybe while I'm gone you can convince Stacey to leave. She's answering my phone, man, it's weird, I barely even know the girl," stated Nathan.

"You sure have changed nephew. Turning down hot college girls…You really do love her, don't you," posed Cooper,as more of a statement then question.

"I do… She's it Coop. Brooke, she's the one," said Nathan confidently.

"Get your ass out of here before I start believing in love and loose the my buzz," joked Cooper.

Nathan walked out of the stands and up towards the concession stands, where it was a bit quieter so that he could check his messages and see who had called. He went immediately to his missed calls log and saw Brooke had tried to call him, among others. He then dialed Brooke's number a few times, only to be greeted by her voicemail each time. Nathan then decided to check his voicemail, one from Kaitlyn about her flight, a few from Tim, one from Daniel, one from Rachel and two from Lucas. Lucas, that was not someone who usually called Nathan. Nathan wasn't even sure the Lucas had his cell phone number, but apparently he did and he had called Nathan a few times. Nathan went back through them and listened to each until it finally got to Lucas. Nathan was just curious to see what he could have possibly wanted.

"_Um, Hey Nathan, it's Lucas. Uh, look, I'm at the hospital with Brooke and she's asking for ya, man," he started, "She's kinda freaking out so…I don't know maybe you can make an attempt to get down here. I know you have a very busy life, you know with college girls answering your phone and all, but I thought that maybe since she's pregnant you might care. So I gave you a call," ended Lucas bitterly._

Nathan raced back to the stands and told his family he had to leave, he didn't give a reason just that he needed to leave immediately and he did just that.

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"Brooke, it's gonna be okay, they'll see you soon," said Lucas in an attempt to comfort her.

"We've been here for over an hour. And I know it's bad, Lucas. I can feel that it's bad," cried Brooke, "I can't lose this baby, he's all I have left."

"Brooke…" began Lucas at a loss for words, "I don't know what to say."

"Can you please call Nathan?" begged Brooke in tears.

"Yeah, just give me a minute okay?" requested Lucas, getting up to call and seeing several missed calls from Nathan.

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Brooke and Lucas were still waiting to be seen now almost two hours later and she was still in pain.

"Where's Nathan?" asked Brooke on the verge of tears.

"Brooke, I called him and I'm doing everything I can for you what else do you want?" questioned Lucas, aggravated from waiting and hearing Brooke's cries and whimpers from pain. _I definitely didn't sign up for this,_ thought Lucas, _where the hell is Nathan?_

"I'm sorry, I'm just scared and would it kill you to say maybe a few comforting words," stated Brooke now crying.

"Brooke! Brooke!" shouted Nathan running into the emergency room. He then spotted her sitting in the seats in the corner with Lucas next to her.

"Oh my god, Nathan," cried Brooke with relief.

"Are you okay? How long have you been waiting here?" asked Nathan worried.

"We've been waiting for about two hours," said Lucas calmly. Nathan looked at Lucas and said,

"Thanks man. I appreciate it, but I can take it from here" said Nathan sincerely.

"Thank god," mumbled Lucas wanting to get away from 'Brooke and her drama'

"Thank you, Lucas," said Brooke with tears streaming down her face. And just like that Lucas forgave her again, _a second before I was aggravated and desperate to get away and now it completely changed, _thought Lucas as he walked out of the ER.

"Brooke, about earlier, it wasn't wh-" began Nathan.

"Nathan, I really don't wanna talk about that right now. I just want this baby to be okay. I'm really scared," interrupted a crying Brooke.

"It's gonna be okay. Come here," started Nathan holding her tightly, "I promise, our son is gonna make it, he's a fighter, just like his mom."

Brooke gave a small smile, finally a bit at peace, at Nathan's words.

"Davis!" yelled the nurse, "Brooke!"

Nathan then helped Brooke up and walked her over to the nurse and through the doors.

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**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND IT HELPS ME DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE STORY :)**


	17. I Lost It

It's officially Christmas Break, which means lots of updates =) I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has an awesome New Year!

Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at .com/watch?v=K5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 14 – I Lost It

"They said it was abdominal pain, brought on by stress and to avoid stress at all costs or you could potentially have a…well, you could miscarry, Brooke. They said that the pressure caused a little bleeding, but it was too close, closer than I ever want it to be. I'm just so sorry. I never would've forgiven myself if you had…I just never would've forgiven myself," said Nathan with tears forming behind his eyes, leaning over to kiss her, but she turned her head, causing Nathan to give her a confused look.

"Nathan, I asked Lucas to call you again because I needed you. I honestly thought I was going to lose the baby, I was in so much pain, I was scared and I just needed to hear your voice telling me 'everything was gonna be okay.' But everything is definitely not okay. Nathan, I tried to call you today and some girl answered your phone. What do you suppose that says? How could you do that to me? You were there for me when Lucas cheated on me with Peyton. You saw what I went through and how that changed me and I just can't believe you would that to me. At least with Lucas we were young and there was nothing to lose. But Nathan, we've been best friends since we were seven! I'm carrying your child and you cheat on me?! And let me tell you I didn't want to go shopping with Peyton and your grandmother because it _is_ stressful to shop on Black Friday. And I couldn't keep up with them because I'm pregnant from you. The only person who even came through for me today was Lucas. So, tell me was it worth it? Was she better than me? Did you get what you wanted?? You told me you loved me, that you wanted us and the baby to be a family. You're a liar!" shouted Brooke crying and hurt.

"Brooke, I still want that! Nothing happened, I barely even knew that girl. I'm not lying to you!" yelled Nathan.

Brooke listened to him and cried.

"Brooke, I promise you," he said softly.

"I'll have someone get my stuff from your house later," said Brooke, as she wiped her eyes, tired of all the tears she'd cried over him for the past several months, "Just get out of here Nathan."

"Brooke," he began.

"Nathan, please. I know we have been through a lot, but I will not do infidelity. I'm not gonna deny you a relationship with our son so we can set something up so that your dad can pick him up from my house to see you," reasoned Brooke, "until then we have absolutely no reason to see each other. So for the next four months feel free to pretend like I don't exist, because that's what I'm gonna do to you."

"Brooke, please, just give me a second chance," pleaded Nathan, as he could see all that mattered to him slipping away.

"No Nathan, I gave you a second chance and you blew it," stated Brooke sadly, "and the worst part is this weekend started out amazing. I was thinking 'Wow, Nathan really stepped up – he grew up' but I couldn't have been any further from the truth," she continued with tears in her eyes, "Happy Thanksgiving, huh?" finished Brooke with a heartbreaking smile through her tears.

"No. You're not gonna do this again. We have been through hell and back and I'm not giving up this easily," replied a frustrated Nathan.

They both then heard people talking outside the door and they knew exactly who they were.

They all walked in, but Dan was the first to walk out to Brooke's hospital bed.

"How are you feeling?" asked Dan concerned and oblivious to the conversation Nathan and Brooke had just had a few moments earlier.

Peyton and Mae who were remaining silent in the corner, glanced up to see her response.

"I'm just tired," replied Brooke in every sense of the word. She was _tired_. Tired of fighting, tired of crying, physically tired – she was simply exhausted from it all.

"Okay, I'm gonna go check with your doctors and find out what's going on," said Dan thoughtfully as he walked out of the room. As soon as the door clicked shut and Dan was out of earshot, Nathan exploded,

"Where were you two?! I specifically said to not leave Brooke and you just went ahead and did it anyway! Did you want her to miscarry?! Was that a part of your plan?!?"

"Nathan, I would never wish that kind of pain on anyone. And Brooke, I'm so very sorry," confessed Mae sincerely.

"Grams, I don't care how sorry you are, Brooke could have lost our baby today! And you know what, it would have been your fault!"

"Natha-" began Peyton only to be interrupted by Nathan,

"And you, you are not any better, so don't try to seem all concerned. We were all best friends Peyton and I kept pushing for you, trying to give you a second chance, but there is clearly no way."

"Nathan, please stop," begged Brooke, reaching her hand out to his arm, as her breathing became jagged and the pain began to return. Nathan quickly turned to face her with concern,

"Are you okay?"

Brooke tried to focus on her breathing as she closed her eyes, hoping it would help. It wasn't helping.

"Nurse!" yelled Nathan, as he moved towards the door rapidly.

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"What part of no stress, do you not understand?" questioned a very angry doctor.

"I-I was just upset and I didn't think it would be stressful for Brooke to hear an argument. I- I mean- she's gonna be okay, right? She's gotta be okay," pleaded Nathan, on the brink of tears, "What about the baby?"

"She is fine now, but we're not sure about the baby. Brooke needs to come in frequently for checkups to make sure everything is going normal. There was quite a bit of strain on your baby, so we need to monitor this very closely," said the doctor firmly as he walked away, slightly disappointed in Nathan's behavior.

In the hospital room Brooke was devastated, she had known Nathan nearly all her life and she _always_ thought he was the one person she could _always_ count on, but she was now questioning everything she thought she knew.

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**7:43am**

The Thanksgiving holiday was now over and Monday was here. Brooke was under doctor's orders to avoid stress at all costs and she was sure that facing everyone at school was not the way to do so _it's okay just breathe,_ thought Brooke.

"It's okay, Brooke just breathe," said Lucas from beside her.

"I can't do this Luke, everyone's staring and whispering and…I can't do this," replied Brooke nervously.

She wasn't exaggerating at all. It seemed as though every person in the school was talking about her. Brooke Davis' fall from grace. She went from miss popular, to California cool, to Nathan's live-in problem, to pregnant girl and now she wasn't sure what she was, but she felt lower than ever. Kaitlyn's flight was delayed so she was still stuck in the airport waiting for Tree Hill's weather to clear up. It was late November and snow was everywhere. Brooke had even watched the news that morning, waiting and hoping to see Tree Hill High run across the bottom of the screen, indicating a school closure. No such luck, every other school in a three mile radius had closed down, it wasn't snowing that badly at the moment, but they had closed due to the warnings that would take effect during the school day at about 12:15pm.

"You just have to, it's gonna get easier," said Lucas softly.

"And what if it doesn't," asked Brooke while looking around at everyone whispering and laughing.

"Well then at least you only have one semester left, right?" joked Lucas nudging her playfully in an attempt to lighten the mood, to which Brooke responded by throwing him a not amused look, "Brooke you're gonna be fine, now I have to go meet up with Jake and Vegas so avoid stress, please, I'll catch up later okay?" finished Lucas with a smile and giving her a hug and walking off to his friends.

_They used to be my friends too,_ thought Brooke sadly. She then looked across the quad looking for someone she could possibly talk to, while scanning across she saw Nathan standing with a bunch of his friends. _It's nice to see this didn't affect his popularity, _she thought sarcastically.

"So Nate, I heard Brooke's pregnant, man. Score," said Tim enthusiastically holding up his hand for a high five. The rest of their group had been avoiding the topic not knowing what Nathan thought about it, but now they had to say something about Tim's comment.

"Dude, what are you on?" questioned Matt, thinking Tim was insane.

"Look, this way she can't leave your ass again when she finally comes to her senses," explained Tim with a laugh, jokingly.

Nathan just walked away wishing Tim had been right for once. Her pregnancy sure didn't keep her from breaking up with him, the day after Thanksgiving no less.

"So Brooke's really moving in with you huh?" asked Rachel, trying to at least be his friend.

"No, she's not," said Nathan calmly.

"What? What happened?" asked Rachel curiously.

"We're done. We broke up over break and she's staying at Lucas' until Kaitlyn can get a flight back," said Nathan solemnly, "I don't know if she's going back to California with her or if she's staying here, I just don't know," he finished sounding defeated.

"Nathan I'm sorry," replied Rachel sincerely, it was apparent how broken up he was about it and Rachel had never heard him sound so vulnerable, _he usually sounds cocky like me, _thought Rachel.

"You know I've known you since middle school and I think that's the first time you said sorry and I actually believed you," said Nathan surprised and his voice raw.

"I think that's the first time I've meant it," responded Rachel soberly, "look I know there's a lot of history between us, but after everything, I still do care about you Nathan. If you believe one thing that ever comes out of my mouth, believe that, I was always honest about how I felt about you. And you and Brooke, you'll work it out."

"RRRRIIIIINNNGGGG," sounded the bell.

"Thanks Rach," stated Nathan gratefully before walking off to class.

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**8:37am**

Brooke was now sitting in class and she felt all eyes on her and it was still only first period.

"It sucks right," whispered Rachel leaning over to Brooke.

"Rachel I really don't want to fight with you right now," confessed Brooke.

"All I'm saying is I know how it feels to have everyone talking about you, especially after a 'Nathan Scott breakup'. I would have killed just to have one person say something to me. I was probably the most hated girl in school at that time and my best friend cut me out, she didn't believe me. I wouldn't wish that on anybody," stated Rachel quietly.

Brooke suddenly felt very guilty, knowing that she had been Rachel's best friend at that time, but although she was Rachel's best friend, Nathan was Brooke's best friend and Rachel had hurt him so Brooke cut Rachel out.

"Not even your worst enemy?" questioned Brooke.

"Not even her," finished Rachel returning her attention to the front of class for lecture.

_Did I just have a civil conversation with Rachel Gattina,_ thought Brooke.

"What the hell were Brooke and Rachel doing talking just now?" asked Peyton whispering to Theresa.

"Who knows, girl," replied Theresa uninterested as she continued to doodle on her paper.

Peyton turned around to face forward again thinking about why Brooke and Rachel would be talking to each other. Rachel had moved to Tree Hill in 5th grade and she and Brooke had originally been friends, even when Rachel and Nathan started dating on-and-off from 7th to 9th grade. Peyton was threatened by Rachel she had her best friend and was dating the guy Peyton wanted, there was only one solution. Nathan had walked in on Rachel 'cheating' on him in the 9th grade and ever since Brooke and Rachel had stopped talking. Rachel had tried and tried again to convince Nathan and Brooke that nothing had happened, but neither wanted to hear it. Nathan eventually forgave her, but still didn't believe her and Brooke and her become nearly enemies.

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**8:37am**

Nathan was also sitting in class, but he was wondering about what Rachel had said earlier to him. Just three years earlier he had walked in on Rachel with someone else.. _Rachel had tried endless times to tell me that she wasn't cheating on me and that Daniel had thrown himself at her. Did Rachel not cheat on me all those years ago? _

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**11:57am**

The lunch period had just started, but Brooke wasn't feeling hungry. She had contemplated going to the nurses office saying she was 'sick' so that she could just go home, but an adult has to sign you out and she usually had Dan sign, but she felt that was no longer an option. Brooke was sitting in the lounge, which was nearly empty because food isn't allowed in the area, only drinks which you had to purchase from the chart they had on location. There were a few people reading or playing games such as pacman on the machines. She recognized a few of them, _Lips, is it? No, Mouth. His name's Mouth, he seemed pretty nice, I saw him on the river court last year, _thought Brooke, _How pathetic have I become that I don't even have friends to sit with in the caf any more._

Brooke then looked up to see Nathan walking into the lounge. It seemed that he wasn't gonna go down without a fight. He slowly walked over to the couch that Brooke was sitting on and took a sit next to her silently.

"What are you doing?" asked Brooke clearly aggravated as she turned to face him.

"I talked to Rachel and she said you had a pretty rough day so I just wanted to see how you were doing, but you're clearly fine. So I'll just leave you alone," said Nathan in the same tone.

As Nathan stood up the lights went out in the room. Brooke looked out towards the window worriedly and saw that the snow had picked up, which was the cause for the light outage. Nathan still continued towards the door determined to win this argument and get out of the room. Mouth suddenly spoke up,

"Um, you're not supposed to leave the room, in this situation. And even if you tried the doors lock automatically if the problem should arise," stated Mouth meekly.

Nathan tried the handle and to no surprise he couldn't get out.

"Fantastic," mumbled Nathan and he then turned around to sit in the chair opposite Brooke.

Nathan took out his cell phone and called Dan to see what the situation was and when it would be resolved.

"Dad? Hey, um the lights are out at school and we're stuck here so can you see what's going on? Like maybe come down here?"

"Principal Turner already contacted me, but Nathan, I can't even get out of the house, it's a blizzard, it's not safe, so just stay where you are for as long as you can," replied Dan.

"As long as I can? How bad is it?" asked Nathan worriedly.

Brooke overheard his conversation and was also becoming worried. If Nathan sounded worried, Brooke knew it was serious. He usually didn't let much phase him.

"I'm not gonna lie, the roof of the school is really old and is already beginning to cave in from the weight of the snow – it's bad. What floor are you on?" questioned Dan.

"The ground floor so it'll take awhile to cave down to here, right?" asked Nathan.

"Yes, are you alone? Whose in the room with you?" requested Dan.

"No, I'm not alone I'm in the lounge so it's pretty big, but there's only about five people in here, some Mathletes or something and um…Brooke's here too," he answered.

"Brooke is with you? Is she okay? Let me talk to her, she's probably worried," said Dan concerned.

Nathan got up and walked over to Brooke silently giving her his cell phone. She briefly talked to Dan and then got teary-eyed hearing the facts of what was happening. Nathan then walked back over the Brooke to get his phone and sat down next to her, she was still a little shaken up. Mouth and his two friends were on the other side of the lounge trying to form a plan and Brooke was sitting by herself, so he figured even she was mad at him now, she could still use a friend.

"We could die in here, we could die" whispered Brooke softly with tears running down her face.

Nathan reached his hand out to pull her into a hug, but Brooke just turned away and whimpered, covering her mouth in attempt to not let it escape.

"Brooke it's going to fine, we're going to be fine," said Nathan firmly, letting her know he meant it, "come here."

Nathan then pulled her into his arms and she cried on his shoulder. As angry as Brooke was at him, she still loved him and if she was doing to die today, at least Nathan would be at her side.

"I promise you, we're gonna get out of here, the three of us," he said with a sad smile pulling away and then reaching into his backpack and held out a present to her.

"I was gonna give this to you on Thanksgiving, I, uh, I ordered it the day I went to the doctor with you for the first time, I don't know if you even want it now, but I figured I bought it for you and you should hav-" he rambled but was interrupted from his rant by Brooke,

"Nathan, can you just give it to me?" she asked, but with a smile letting him know she was joking.

_Joking, that's a start a least, she doesn't completely hate me,_ thought Nathan.

He then handed her the present and she quickly unwrapped it like a kid on Christmas morning. Once the wrapping paper was off, it revealed a blue Duke onezie and a toddler size Duke t-shirt. Brooke looked down at them and felt her eyes tearing up again.

"Why'd you do it?" she said with tears in her eyes and angry, that Nathan had ruined what they had by 'cheating' on her.

Nathan considered playing it off like he didn't know what she was referring to, but he knew it was incident on Friday.

"Brooke, I want you look at me," started Nathan as he took her hand in his, "I would never and have never cheated on you. I would never do anything to jeopardize this family, because that is what we are – a family, you and me and our son."

Brooke was still teary-eyed at Nathan's confession and she spoke softly, still a bit unconvinced of his sincerity,

"Nathan, if we don't get out of here..."

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**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND IT HELPS ME DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE STORY :)**


	18. How Forever Feels

Hey Readers! I'm so sorry about that wait! Life's just been crazy with the new year and new semester/classes. But if you all still enjoy it, I do have another chapter written already, I was inspired hehe :)

Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at .com/watch?v=K5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 15 – How Forever Feels

"Nathan, if we don't get out of here…" Brooke started while looking down, but when she looked into Nathan's eyes she just couldn't bring herself to finish and say the words, to put herself back out there.

Nathan moved closer to her and placed a hand on her knee to comfort her as the tears started to fall from her eyes,

"Brooke," said Nathan softly, as he saw her retreating and closing up her heart again.

And just like that the moment between them ended and Brooke returned to just feeling hurt, broken and angry.

Brooke quickly moved away from Nathan causing his hand to fall,

"I can't do this anymore…us. We shouldn't have to try this hard just to make it work, Nathan," confessed Brooke, with tears streaming down her face.

"Brooke, that's what a relationship is, you have to work at it, a lot – everyday. But that's something I want to do to be with you," replied Nathan firmly.

"I'm tired of that. I don't have the energy to fight for you, Nathan. I just, I can't compete with these girls. I really just need to focus of this baby and making sure he's okay," said Brooke emotionally.

"Brooke, you have to know that I want him to be okay too," began Nathan sincerely, "but that doesn't mean giving up on us. And trust me, there is no competition. I am completely in love with you and I always have been."

Brooke took a deep breath sniffling and looked away from Nathan for a second to gain some composure.

"I know you want that, but there's a part of you, I think a big part of you, that just doesn't see how much you're giving up when you say you're always gonna be there. What happens when it's the big game and the whole team is counting on you to be _there_. This just isn't gonna work for us," admitted Brooke sadly.

Nathan simply looked down not knowing how to respond. She was right on some level and he knew that, but it didn't make him feel any better or make him miss her any less.

"In a few years. Once we're out of college, maybe. I do love you, God, I love you so much, but Nathan, come on we couldn't even make it a day apart, without you hitting on some college girl," she stated in a hurt tone.

"Is that what this about? I barely knew her, Brooke! I want you. Just you. No one else," replied Nathan.

At that moment the lights Mr. Turner pushed through the double doors of the lounge unlocking the automatic system.

"Is everyone okay in here?" shouted Mr. Turner as Jeffrey one of the AV guys ran for the door 'in need of air.' "It's unsafe to remain in the building, I would like you all to evacuate in a timely fashion!"

"Trapped. Trapped like rats," mumbled Jeffrey from the floor, mere inches from the doorway.

Mouth then spoke up for him in a joking manner with a slight laugh, "You'll have to excuse him, he has some 'problems."

To which Mr. Turner replied with a smile and motioned for Mouth to also leave the lounge and head home.

Brooke then stood up from the couch, but while reaching for her backpack Nathan's hand reached out to stop her.

"Brooke," begged Nathan as he searched her eyes for anything, any sign that would let him know she was willing to give them another shot.

"I gotta go," whispered Brooke with tears in her eyes, as she picked up her backpack and walked out of the lounge.

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Seven times. Seven times, Nathan had circled Lucas' house, where Brooke was staying for the time being. He knew he needed to see her, he wanted to see her. As he drove past the house for the eighth time he saw Brooke leaving pulling her jacket tight, to keep warm in the cold. Nathan knew that today was the checkup for the baby and he wanted to be there, he just didn't know if Brooke wanted him to be there. It had been a week since the blizzard and school was still yet to reopen – similarly to Brooke. The two hadn't spoken since then and it wasn't helping Nathan's case with there being no school. As Brooke walked down the front porch she saw Nathan's car in the corner of her eye, bringing an unexpected smile to her face. She hadn't seen him in what felt like forever, but in reality was only 9 days. He remembered. He cares. Brooke then increased her pace as much as she could for being five months pregnant and waited at the corner that she knew Nathan would turn around again and sure enough there he was. Brooke walked up to the car and said with a soft smile,

"Are you spying on me?"

"I, um, well, uh," stuttered Nathan, unsure of how to respond.

Brooke then opened the door and got into the passenger seat of his car. Nathan then gave her a confused look.

"Come on, we're gonna be late," said Brooke with small encouraging smile, causing Nathan to head in the direction of the doctor with a smile too.

The two drove in silence for several minutes until Nathan finally broke it,

"So, um, is Kaitlyn back yet? I haven't seen her around."

"Actually, she's not coming back," replied Brooke softly.

"Oh, I wish I had said goodbye then," said Nathan regretfully, "She was really good to you, when I wasn't there. Tell her a said 'hi' the next time to you talk to her."

Brooke nodded her head in response as she gathered the strength to tell Nathan what she had been putting off since she had talked to Kaitlyn a few days ago. The car then fell silent again. Soon enough Nathan then pulled into the hospital garage and turned the car off, looking over to Brooke.

"I'm moving to California," spoke Brooke, in that lovely raspy voice.

"What?" said a shocked Nathan.

Brooke laughed nervously as she continued, "Yeah. I'm leaving next week…"

Nathan, still in shock kept his eyes on Brooke as she continued telling him the details of it all. However, he couldn't hear a thing, he saw that her lips were moving, but with all the thoughts running through his head, he couldn't hear a thing. The rest of day felt like a blur to Nathan. The baby seemed to be doing okay, at the time being, and he remembered driving Brooke back to Lucas' house, but aside from that, he was at a loss. It was now 2:17am and he just couldn't will himself to sleep. He lay awake thinking about what Brooke had said. When she had left for California last summer, it nearly killed him and he didn't think he could do it again. This time it would harder – she wasn't coming back, she was leaving with their son, he didn't know if he would ever be able to see his son, him and Brooke were not on the best terms, but most importantly **they weren't coming back**! He had contemplated going over to see her, but it was much too late and he didn't want to chance a run-in with Lucas Roe. So with that thought Nathan tossed the ball back up in the air and caught it again.

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Brooke was also having a hard time sleeping. Having to tell Nathan that she was leaving for good was one the hardest things she had ever had to do, harder than she had imagined. The picture of his disappointed face kept replaying in her mind. If she was being completely honest with herself she knew the true reason she was leaving was fear. The fear that had seemed to be instilled in her since the moment that car collided with her mother and herself – not being enough. In Brooke's mind she would never be enough for Nathan, her friends, or her family. So she felt she needed to get a change of scenery to get back into focus so that she **could** be enough for their son. Yet, there was still something holding her back. She knew it was the right thing to do, she had to leave to give her son a better life. But wouldn't having Nathan there, better their son's life. Brooke was having an internal fight with herself as she weighed the options in her head. She had made her decision, Brooke got up out of bed, grabbed her keys from the nightstand, and headed down the stairs. It was very late once Brooke had arrived on Nathan's doorstep but she needed to have this conversation with him and if she waited for morning she was afraid it would never happen. So here she was once again, standing in the same spot she was 5 months with the same nervous feeling, as she waited for Nathan to come to the door. She knocked several times, but was met with no reply. So Brooke simply turned the knob and walked into the home and quietly climbed the stairs up to Nathan's room. The house was completely silent since all of his family had went back home after the holidays, including Dan, back up to Charlotte. Brooke slowly opened the door careful not to be too loud. She then walked softly towards his bed. She could see that he was awake and could sense the worry in the room. She watched for a moment as he continued to toss the basketball up into the air.

"Hi," said Brooke softly, causing Nathan to turn in surprise.

She then finished the walk to his bed and lied down beside him.

"I'm sorry," she continued quietly as she looked over at Nathan

"What?" he replied.

Brooke then took a deep breath trying to keep her tears and bay and continued,

"I've been thinking about us."

"I still love you, Brooke," said Nathan firmly as she looked right at her for the first time since she had laid down.

"I love you, too" responded Brooke softly with a few tears escaping, "If you hadn't said it first I would have just now. I just needed you to know that. I love you and I always will."

Nathan then moved to pull her into him, when she spoke, "I gotta go."

Brooke then stood and headed for the door,

"Brooke!" shouted Nathan, as she was approaching the door.

"I'm sorry," whispered Brooke, as she turned back towards the door and walked out.

Brooke ran down the stairs and to her car, needing to get away from that house and this town as fast as should could. Laying with Nathan, had only made it that much more clear to her, how in love she still was with him. If she stayed a minute longer, she knew he would have talked her out of it. He seemed to have that effect on her. Something about the way his words formed and sounded that appealed so much to Brooke that anything he said seemed wonderful and complete. Brooke continued to drive down the same familiar road that held her best memories and she finally just let go. She cried harder than ever before, with no one there to comfort her and in that moment she knew she could make it. She could do this on her own, it would be hard as hell, but she was going to make it.

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**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND IT HELPS ME DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE STORY :)**


	19. I Can't Go There

Hey readers,

Could it be? A new update... I know i'm terrible at updating, but i'm on spring break now and have a little more spare time, so be on the lookout for some updates and new vids. This story is also coming to a close but there will definitely be a sequel, which you can also be on the lookout for along with a promo on my youtube channel, username: Ally9292 :)

Another reminder that you can access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at .com/watch?v=K5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song lyrics, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 16 – I Can't Go There

Brooke dried her eyes as she continued to drive back. It was a long night and she was more tired then she had ever remembered in her life. Her phone beeped from what seemed like the millionth time tonight, signaling that she had new messages. Brooke then dialed her voicemail as she pulled over to listen to her messages.

_I really hate to leave things the way they are, and with you leaving next week theres some things that just need to be said. Brooke, I understand why you have to do this, I just really wish you didn't have to. I know that our love can make it through this, we're gonna make it, Brooke. Whatever it takes. If time is what you need, then take that time, and know that I will be waiting for you. I will always be there for you and our son. I love both of you so much and you need to know that. You have gotten me through my darkest days and you taught me how to love again. You believed in me when no one else did and always supported me. I realize that I won't see before you go off to California. But maybe it's better this way, we don't have to see each other and chance a potential fight, this way I'll always have the best memories of Brooke Davis, the love of my life, mother of my child, and amazing woman. I love you, Brooke and you know where to find me._

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"I don't know Rach, she already had her mind made up last night, I could tell," explained Nathan.

"And I can tell that she loves you. She loves you Nate, don't be stupid. Let me tell you something about love, it does not knock often and when it does you don't say 'Oh sorry no one's home' you get off your ass and welcome it in, doofus," ended Rachel on a lighter note, "but seriously Nathan, you need to go after her. Don't let her leave without seeing you again, it might be what makes the difference."

"I'm not gonna keep doing that. I just keep putting myself out there and she crushes me every time. I couldn't take it if I went over there and she turned me down again, I love her and she knows that and she wants to leave anyway," he confessed sadly.

Rachel moved from her leaning position and fall back unto the couch in defeat. Nathan then got up from the lounge chair across from her and said,

"Rachel I get what you're trying to do, I do, but come on we both know Brooke, once she decides she gonna do something, it's done."

Nathan then walked towards his front door to see Rachel out, she then got up and walked into the doorway and replied,

"Just think about it, alright? Hang in there, Nate."

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Rachel was now standing on Lucas Roe's porch ringing the doorbell vigorously. Lucas finally came to the door and raised an eyebrow in response to seeing Rachel Gattina outside his door.

"Rachel," he greeted.

"Hey Luke, is Brooke around?" she asked simply.

Lucas again raised an eyebrow in suspicion and then pointing up the stairs, saying,

"End of the hallway last d-"

"Door on the left," finished Rachel with a knowing smile, "I have been to parties here before Lucas," she whispered into his ear as she walked passed him and up the staircase with a laugh.

"B. Davis!" she yelled while knocking on the door.

Brooke quickly wiped her eyes and pulled her hair out of the ponytail it had previously been in, trying to appear somewhat collected as she got up off the bed and pulled the door open.

"You look just as bad as Nathan feels," said Rachel, looking at Brooke and walking past her to sit down on the bed.

"Hi to you too," said Brooke, as she followed Rachel and also sat down.

"Look, I know I'm not your favorite person right now, but I do care about you Brooke. I still consider you my best friend and I want you to be happy. And as far as I can tell Nathan makes you happy and I _know_ you make him happy," she admitted.

"So this is what it looks like when hell freezes over," stated Brooke, smiling for the first time since she had seen Nathan last night and Rachel returned the smile.

"Thank you, for coming here. I already miss him and I'm going crazy stuck in this room," continued Brooke, a little teary-eyed, but still ending with a small laugh.

"Brooke, I know you have a lot going on right now and it probably seems like the best solution to leave, but don't run from the people who love you."

"I'm not running," insisted Brooke as she could feel the tears behind her eyes, threatening to surface.

"You're running and you know it," she said with a smile letting Brooke know she wasn't attacking her, but simply being there to help her, "Just think about what you're running from. Nathan loves you, you know that. He would give the world for you. I saw him last summer Brooke and he just wasn't the same without you. And I'm not trying to guilt you into staying or trying to blame you for Nathan's own set of problems, because we both know he has em," continued Rachel with a chuckle, "I just want you to realize all that you're leaving behind _and_ all that you're taking with you. I know you're pregnant. And honestly, I thought Nathan would have freaked, but when he was talking about you and this kid he just lights up, Brooke."

Brooke nodded her head with a few tears escaping, Rachel then hugged her and allowed her cry.

"I don't know what to do Rach" she whispered.

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Brooke did know that she couldn't leave with making things right with Peyton. She had been one of her best friends her whole life and she needed to see her, if not one last time. As she turned the corner Peyton was already sitting on the porch, looking just as lost as Brooke felt.

"Hey," said Brooke softly as she walked up the few stairs and leaned against one of the beams on the porch.

"Is it true?" whispered Peyton still looking straight ahead, when she was met with silence she turned to face Brooke head on, "You're really moving."

Peyton knew that she had been harsh on Brooke, but she had hoped that they would eventually get passed it and get back to how they used to be.

"I'm really moving," confirmed Brooke with a sad smile and tears forming behind her eyes. As angry as she was at Peyton for all of the pain she had caused, Brooke couldn't help but feel sad while attempting to say goodbye to her former best friend.

"I'm sorry," they both confessed at the same time, causing a small laugh threw the tears between the two. Peyton then stood up and walked over to Brooke,

"Friends again?"

"Just not enemies anymore," negotiated Brooke as she closed the distance between them to give her a hug, "I missed you, P. Sawyer."

"I missed you too, B. Davis," said Peyton softly through a few tears.

"So that Nathan really knows how to tear up a friendship, huh?" joked Brooke, with a sad smile.

"Brooke, I'm so sorry" said Peyton sincerely.

Brooke simply nodded her head in response and hugged Peyton again. As they both released and Brooke turned to return to Lucas' house, she came face to face with Nathan. There he was standing on the edge of Peyton's porch, looking completely broken.

"Brooke," he said softly as he took a step towards her, but she quickly took a step back holding out her hand and sniffled and then ran passed him.

Nathan let out a long breath closing his eyes, in disappointment.

"Nate," whispered Peyton comfortingly, as she walked over to him to give him a hug, "it'll be okay, she's gonna come around."


	20. Way Down Here

Hey Reader,

The next chapter will be the last, however I have a sequel that I am already working on. It is up to you all when you want me to post it. I can wait a day, a week, or months depending on what you all want. By summer I will definitely have a lot more free time so updates will be more frequent. I'm still on Spring Break for several more days, so I hope to get the last chapter up by Sunday. But I have to go to a Wedding this weekend, so I will be hopefully have some free time update. Another reminder that you can still access a promo for Behind These Hazel Eyes at .com/watch?v=K5uV8DAFpvs , from my profile ClothesOverBrosx23 or directly from youtube under the username Ally9292.

**Disclaimer: I do not own song names, One Tree Hill or any of the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

Ch. 17 – Way Down Here

Brooke reached over to grab another pile of clothes off her bed and placed them into her fifth suitcase. She was beginning to think that maybe Kaitlyn had been right, in suggesting Brooke box up her things and ship them to California, rather than flying with tons of suitcases. With that thought in mind she reached over again and took yet another pile of clothes and put them into her suitcase. Lucas knocked on the door softly before pushing the door open slightly,

"Hey, just making sure you're all ready to go," he commented caringly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Definitely rethinking the whole not shipping my stuff over though, I mean I have soooo many suitcases," responded Brooke.

"Well, do you need help? I could help you pack up," offered Lucas with a smile.

"No, it's cool I got it," she answered, returning the smile.

Lucas then nodded and turned to go back downstairs when Brooke called out,

"Lucas," causing him to face her, "Thanks, for everything. For letting me stay here and bringing me to the hospital that night and always being there for me. We've been through a lot, me and you, but I wouldn't be able to make it through today or have made through a couple other days without you. You're really great, you know that."

"Brooke, I…I" Lucas attempted but suddenly 23 by Jimmy Eat World filled the room and they both looked over at Brooke's phone to see it ringing.

"Nathan," said Lucas softly, knowing that was the ring tone she had set for when Nathan would call. Brooke also knew it was him the moment that song filled the air, it was and always would be their song. It represented everything they were and everything they had once wanted.

"He's been calling all morning. I just, I don't know what to say to him," she admitted quietly, while holding the phone in her hands.

Lucas took a deep breathe pushing his slight feelings for Brooke to the back of his mind once again and tried to be the good friend she needed,

"I'm not gonna tell you to not talk to him, but Brooke, you need to do what you feel is right. Do I want you to leave? No. But that doesn't change the fact that I know it's for the best and I want, what you want. I just want you to be happy Brooke and if California makes you happy, well then you should go for it."

"How do you always know exactly what to say?" stated Brooke with a smile, but tears were filling her eyes.

"It's a gift," he said while walking towards Brooke to give her hug, "you're gonna be fine, Brooke."

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Brooke had decided to take a "packing break" and she was getting some fresh air outside. She found herself looking down Lucas' block, secretly hoping that Nathan would appear, as much as she knew this was what she needed to do, Brooke just couldn't shake the feeling that leaving could also be a huge mistake. Had Nathan made many mistakes? Sure. Would he probably continue to make mistakes? Most likely. But it's in those mistakes that you learn and grow – together. She was having an internal argument yet Brooke still took another deep breath and slowly pushed herself up from the front steps, which was nearly impossible at this point. She only had a few months left until her due date and Brooke couldn't wait for the baby to finally come into the world. All of the craziness that had surrounded the pregnancy had only made Brooke realize how much she loved and wanted this baby. While leaving Nathan behind would be among the harder things Brooke would have to do, she would be leaving with a part of him – their baby. Brooke turned to walk up the few stairs when she heard a car horn beeping. She turned around again, as fast as she could, and saw Kaitlyn stepping out of a taxi.

"You didn't think I'd let do this alone, did ya?" yelled Kaitlyn from the curb, before running to Brooke to give her hug.

"Oh my god, Katie, I missed you so much," said Brooke, with tears filling her eyes.

"Come on, don't go getting all pregnant-y, on me. No tears, you should be happy Brooke," finished Kaitlyn comfortingly.

Brooke nodded her head and wiped her few tears away from her face.

"Now let's go on in, we have a lot of packing to do," said Kaitlyn with a smile.

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Nathan hung up the phone again, throwing it onto his bed, in frustration. He had been trying to call Brooke for hours, with no reply. He could feel everything he had ever wanted slowly slipping away from him. Brooke had always been there for him and he wasn't too sure he could make it without her. He loved her unconditionally, no matter how many times either of them had managed to get away from each other, they always found their way back. And Nathan was hoping this time around would be no different for them. Nathan then walked down the stairs and out the door, in desperate need of some air. As it usually happens he headed up at the River Court. He looked around at the place that held so many memories and suddenly realized he had found a new one – written out across the pavement, for him and the whole world to see.

**i felt for sure last night, that once we said goodbye No one else will know these lonely dreams No one else will know that part of me I'm still driving away And i'm sorry everyday.**

**LOVE,**

**BROOKE 3**

Nathan stood above the lyrics to _their_ song and any small doubt that he had had dissolved, he was going to do everything he could to get Brooke to stay here, with him.

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"So I stopped at the River Court on the way over here, I thought I might find you there…" trailed Kaitlyn.

"I knew this was coming…and by that lead-in I'm guessing you saw it," replied Brooke.

"Yes, I saw it. Brooke, is this really what you want. Do you want to go to California? Because I know I've only been back a few hours, but I'm getting the feeling that what you really want, is Nathan," she explained caringly.

"Katie, I want to go to California. But I do still love Nathan, I mean that's not something you can turn off, some days I don't even want to, but I know California is where I need to be right now," Brooke reasoned.

"Then why did you write that on the River Court?" asked Kaitlyn.

"I really hurt him, Kaitlyn. I know he's hurting and I just needed him to know that I'm not leaving because I don't love him anymore. I'm leaving becaus-"

"You're leaving because what?...... Look, Brooke, I love you, you know that. I want what's best for you. And if what you want is a clean break in California, I'm there for you, you know that. In a heart beat, I'm there. But if you want to stay here, I'm still gonna support you. California is a long way from here and I want you realize that, okay. If this is you running from Nathan, that's a long way to run…" she stated.

"I really wish everyone would stop saying that," confessed Brooke softly, with tears filling her eyes, "I'm not running from him or anything or anybody else. I just think I need this time. I'm gonna be a mom and I need to be able to give our son a stable environment, with constants. And Nathan, he's just not a constant. He's so unpredictable and strong-headed and passionate about everything. I don't want my son to be just getting used to having Nathan as a father and then for some reason he's not there anymore. I really think I could this on my own. I mean of course I would need your help at times and Rach said she's going to college out in California so she can help too. I just, I don't know, I think I could really make this work."

There was a moment of silence after Brooke's confession, which was then broken by the sound of the front door closing – Lucas. Kaitlyn had left last month without really saying goodbye to many people, Lucas being one of them. They had been in an argument regarding Peyton Sawyer. Kaitlyn was never a big fan of hers, she just always seemed so needy to her, needy and clingy, two characteristics that Kaitlyn found to be very big flaws. Yet, here she was now sitting in Lucas' house and there was no of escaping him. Kaitlyn was beginning to think she should have better planned this 'trip' to Tree Hill, in a way where she was allowed to avoid Lucas Roe at all costs. Quite frankly she was still a bit upset with him. One being that he had kissed Peyton and two being, that although he had kissed Peyton a small part of her still wanted him. Brooke heard the door close shut and knew it could have only been Lucas and in that moment she said softly,

"I'm gonna go for a walk, I'll be back in about an hour."

"Brooke, wait," whined Kaitlyn as Brooke walked out of the room.

Kaitlyn then walked down the stairs and knowing she would come face to face with him. Lucas was now in the kitchen and Brooke had told him she was gonna go for a walk. Yet, suddenly he heard footsteps behind him. With his back to the girl, while rummaging through the fridge he said jokingly,

"Brooke, do you ever remember anything?"

"Hi," said Kaitlyn just above a whisper.

Lucas quickly turned around,

"Kaitlyn, what are you doing here?" he asked surprised.

"I, um, came to help Brooke pack up. And I figured I should say goodbye to you too," she confessed.

"Now you want to say goodbye?! Kaitlyn you left without a single word. One day you were here and the next I show up at your apartment and you're not there!" argued Lucas.

"Yeah? Well I came over here to see you the week before I was going to leave and boy, I did I see you, I saw you kissing Peyton!" yelled Kaitlyn.

"She kissed me! It was not a romantic moment. You knew when you met me that I was still getting over Brooke, and I'm sorry for that. You shouldn't have had to deal with that, but you did, you accepted it and not a lot of people would, but I never said anything about Peyton," he reasoned.

"I don't care what you said. And I don't care if she kissed you first, it was still a kiss. It's cheating Lucas! And I've heard about you and I kept defending you to everybody, that you weren't a cheater, that you changed! You didn't change," cried Kaitlyn, disappointed and with tears forming in her eyes as she turned to walk away from him once again.

"Kaitlyn!" yelled Lucas, in an attempt to get her to stay.

She then turned around and softly quoted ," 'And if he could once return to that starting place, perhaps he could find what else was missing' "

"I don't get it," he said quietly, wishing that he could find a way to express how sorry he was for his shortcomings.

"And you never did," replied Kaitlyn kissing his check softly and whispering in his ear, "goodbye Lucas." She then took a step back and looked directly into his eyes, which were beginning to fill with tears and then turned around walking out of his door and his life.

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